DELEGATOR SHOT to 2,000 Guineas favouritism after justifying the recent hype with a hugely impressive display in the banshahousestables.com Craven Stakes at Newmarket yesterday.

Sent off the 4 to 6 market leader on his first run since finishing fifth in the Dewhurst last season, the Brian Meehan-trained Dansili colt was settled last of the seven runners by Jamie Spencer.

Once angled out to challenge, the response was immediate and he picked up strongly from over a furlong out to score by two and three-quarter lengths from Sans Frontieres.

Delegator was the subject of a huge ante-post gamble for the stanjames.com-sponsored Guineas on May 2nd following reports of an impressive workout this time last week, and Victor Chandler now make him their 7 to 2 market leader from 7 to 1 for the season’s first Classic. The once-raced Sans Frontieres ran with plenty of credit to fill the runner-up spot, while Pure Poetry took third.

Spencer said: “We didn’t really learn a whole lot from that as he has always been an amazing horse. I was shell-shocked when he got beat in the Dewhurst as I thought nothing could beat him but inexperience caught him out.

“I was very pleased with the way he handled the dip and he’s handled the fast ground. Ideally a good racing surface would be perfect for him. When he hits the front he pulls himself up but if he had another horse to chase he would have scooted clear of those.

“It’s a dress rehearsal for back here in two weeks and today is not what mattered. Two weeks’ time is what matters.”

Meehan added: “I’m really pleased with him, and he has done exactly what we expected of him. He was possibly in front a little too early but I wanted Jamie to fire him down the hill to get some experience into him.

“He was fresh in the paddock, and Jamie said he enjoyed himself on the way to post. My only concern was that it was his first run of the season and we haven’t had many runners from the stable to test our fitness levels.

“But even so, I was pretty confident.”