Brian O'Connor attended the annual media open day at Ballydoyle yesterday morning

The colonial hero George Washington was famously possessed of a set of timber dentures. His equine namesake, however, has a collection of gnashers that had Kieren Fallon running for safety yesterday at Ballydoyle's annual media open morning.

The former champion jockey has always believed Europe's champion juvenile of 2005, and red hot favourite for next month's 2,000 Guineas, is special. But surely only a very special one indeed could have Fallon seeking sanctuary in a pack of hacks!

Sure enough, whereas George I is portrayed in history as the sort of sober, puritanical git who might actually have enjoyed shivering at Valley Forge, George II is a much more flamboyant customer. So much so it sounds like he has had Aidan O'Brien dipping into the old psychology library during the long winter break.

"Look at him," ordered the master of Ballydoyle yesterday with a mixture of exasperated indulgence that only the most talented can provoke. "Brilliance and arrogance usually come together and this is an arrogant horse. He wants everyone to bow to him. He's a bully. It's just part of him, part of what makes him so good. He is very exceptional. I don't think we've ever had a possible miler with so much speed."

George's response was to nudge O'Brien to keep the love flowing and a bite at Fallon that destroyed any thoughts of a staged photo opportunity. However, any mutters about temperament letting him down in his Classic year provoked only grins.

"There is no occasion too big for this horse," said O'Brien whose main worry about the Guineas is a very real one about stamina. Asked if George Washington will stay the mile, the trainer pursed his lips, talked again of brilliant speed, and conceded:

"I'll believe it when I see it."

That's not normally the sort of reassurance one wants about a horse already being spoken about in terms of past Ballydoyle legends. But there is no disguising the regard both O'Brien and Fallon hold George Washington. And as he showed yesterday, normal is not a word we're ever likely to associate with him.

The colt will head straight for the Guineas, a route taken by King Of Kings, Rock of Gibraltar and Footstepsinthesand in the past, and is likely to be joined by his less hyped yet hugely regarded stable companion Art Museum.

"He's a colt that resembles Giant's Causeway. A big tank of a horse, always relaxed, always with a bit more there, and always with his head out," O'Brien said.

"The only difference is he has had only two runs. We were really keen to run in the Middle Park but a bruised foot kept him out."

O'Brien completed the Newmarket Guineas double last year and Rumplestiltskin is favourite for the 1,000 this time round. It contributes to a remarkable domination of the ante-post betting with a Ballydoyle horse currently favourite for every Classic race at Newmarket and Epsom.

Horatio Nelson has not been ruled out of Newmarket either but is more likely to take the route to Epsom followed by both Galileo and High Chaparral, starting with the Ballysax.

"He's a grand colt, very off hand, totally unlike the other fellah. He mooches around, doing what he has to, without hardly being noticed," said O'Brien who will take a large part of his Classic team to the Curragh on Sunday for what could be a vital piece of post-race work.

"We're aiming to the first week in May and if we could get some good weather and decent ground we will be happy," O'Brien declared. "They are all reasonably fit but they haven't been sharpened up yet. All we're waiting is for the ground to change."

A relaxed Fallon concurred and even nominated the maiden Hitchcock as his dark horse for the year along with the Leopardstown winner Dylan Thomas.

"So much can change in just one week but at the moment the horses look like they have come on and they're looking really well," said the jockey.

As for George Washington, Fallon simply grinned: "Most good horses have some sort of character!" Which might yet make this colt some kind of superstar.

George Washington - "A horse with a huge ego and very brilliant. The mile at Newmarket is a worry because he has so much speed. But he has matured and he does switch off. He has the most fantastic action and is as fast as we've ever had here."

Horatio Nelson - "His dam Imagine got a mile and a half and he looks like he could be a Derby horse. If he doesn't run in the Guineas, then he will start off in a Derby Trial. Has done very well over the winter, putting on 50 kilos. Not over-big but well put together."

Art Museum - "Likely to go to the Guineas at Newmarket. We hope he will get a mile, and might even get a mile and a quarter. Looks very similar to Giant's Causeway and we've been impressed with how well he has done over the winter."

Rumplestiltskin - "It looks like she might go for the Newmarket Guineas but there is also the French Guineas at Longchamp where she won last year. She doesn't do anything in front and Kieren was brilliant on her in the Marcel Boussac. She looks like a miler."

Alexandrova - "Kieren was impressed with her when runner-up in the Fillies Mile. She doesn't look a Guineas filly, more one for the Oaks. Usually we give those fillies a start in the Irish 1,000 but maybe not with her."

Frost Giant - "Won the Killavullan last year and has done very well over the winter. Kieren's been impressed with him. He is in the Kentucky Derby but that's unlikely at this stage"