Aidan O'Brien, who supplies all three Irish challengers for the Stan James 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket this afternoon, can thwart leading home-trained hopefuls such as Sir Percy and Amadeus Wolf who are expected to put up a stern defence to the Irish challenge.
It is certainly true that O'Brien's fillies have generally looked more forward than the colts in the opening month and a half of the season. However, there is really very little reason to believe that an outfit as professional as Ballydoyle will have left anything to chance for a race that is always high on the priority-list on account of its value to a horse with aspirations to being a top stallion in the future, the whole purpose of the Coolmore-backed establishment.
The three Newmarket-bound colts, and prime hope George Washington in particular, will have been prepared for this test in a different way than the lesser animals we have seen getting beaten in recent weeks, many of them failing on the basis that they needed the run. Winner of four of his five starts at two, including two Group Ones, George Washington has long been the stable's number one Guineas contender. If all goes according to plan, the Dewhurst runner-up Horatio Nelson, will have his best chance of Classic glory in the Derby, while Frost Giant, winner of a Leopardstown maiden on the second of two starts as a two-year-old, is very much an unknown quantity at this level.
George Washington produced one of the most visually impressive performances of the 2005 juvenile campaign when trouncing the opposition in the Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh in August. The following month he was altogether less convincing in defeating Golden Arrow when stepped up to seven furlongs in the National Stakes.
At the time Kieren Fallon laughed off a suggestion that the son of Danehill might find his niche as a sprinter this season, but early in the current season O'Brien expressed a slight reservation about the suitability of the one-mile trip for a colt who shows so much speed. On balance, there is enough in his pedigree to give rise to confidence that he will not fail for lack of stamina.
If he does fail, it will be more likely for reasons of temperament. There have been plenty of indications that he has a quirky nature, and it is quite possible that the preliminaries will expose his frailty. At his current price, George Washington probably does not represent value because of temperamental doubts, but connections, and jockey Kieren Fallon in particular, have massive confidence in his ability. If their conviction is right, and he gets into the stalls without any untoward incident, he is going to be desperately hard to beat.
