Relaxed Kinane still the one to watch

No one knows better than Michael Kinane the weight of expectation Jamie Spencer will be under in today's 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket when he throws his leg across the raging favourite, One Cool Cat.

For six years the champion jockey was at the centre of the pressure cooker that is the world's most powerful racing operation, until last autumn he decided enough was enough.

Leaving the job as stable jockey to Aidan O'Brien might have sent shock waves across the racing world, but if turning his back on One Cool Cat, and the Derby favourite, Yeats, is keeping Kinane awake at night, he's looking remarkably fresh-faced for it.

Those within racing who have known the man for years say they have rarely seen him more relaxed and happy since he became number one rider to John Oxx. And a result of that is that Kinane, who will be 45 in June, remains the man on the track, always the one to beat and the benchmark for his colleagues.

Crucially, no one appears to realise that more than his replacement at Ballydoyle. Spencer is only 23 and, brilliant talent though he is, so far this season he has given the understandable signs of a jockey in a hurry to make his mark on the new gig.

Plenty of winners have also been interrupted by a series of suspensions, and, as well as the usual stresses of riding a classic favourite for Coolmore, Spencer will be only too aware of the scrutiny his performance will be under this afternoon.

The contrast with his senior rival could hardly be greater. Kinane's cold-eyed ability to get it right on the big day is famous world-wide, and today, on the Oxx-trained Azamour, he has his own perfectly reasonable chance of adding to previous 2,000 victories on Tirol (1990), Entrepreneur (1997) and King Of Kings (1998.) That it comes without the attendant pressures of being number one at Ballydoyle is no inconvenience either.

Questions about why he left the job last year provoke a firm "let's not go there" stance.

However, his new arrangement does prompt a grin: "I would say life is a little easier now. There's definitely a different feel."

Another beneficiary of last year's game of musical chairs was Oxx, who says: "Michael is riding brilliantly. He is a very fit man, he's got no weight problems and he is always determined. I think he is only getting better."

An early classic victory for Azamour would put a seal on the new partnership, but while Kinane isn't minimising his chance, he also knows only too well the challenge that One Cool Cat represents.

Kinane guided the Storm Cat colt to two Group One successes last season and cannot conceal the note of enthusiasm in his voice when he talks about him.

"I've always been a big fan," he says. "I've always thought he was a Guineas horse. As a two-year-old I felt he would be better at three and he appears to have filled out physically. He's a worthy favourite, absolutely the one to beat."

Like One Cool Cat, Azamour will go into the Guineas without a run this season, and while Kinane understandably doesn't talk his chance up, he isn't into talking it down either.

"It hasn't been possible to get a run into him, which is a shame, but he is quite an athletic horse at home and arrives there quickly. His work has been pleasing and Newmarket will suit him. He wants a decent surface and should get it there," he says.

As for the rest, Kinane's views are always interesting; unlike many jockeys, he knows the formbook inside out:

"Dermot's horse (Grey Swallow) has done nothing wrong, even though he looked a bit laboured the last day. But he was giving 5 lb away and he was on the worst of the ground. I think he'll run a good race.

"It's difficult to assess the Craven Stakes form. There wasn't much pace, but Haafhd was impressive. Last year his first run was his best, however. He tapered off a bit after that.

"It was hard not to like the way Salford City won and I think he must have a definite chance."

Nevertheless, enough people have twigged Azamour's chance too, especially since a telephone-tipping-line-inspired gamble midweek forced his price down to as low as 10 to 1. If he were to win today, it would be particularly sweet for his jockey.

"Since he came back from Dubai, Michael has ridden Azamour in practically all his bits of work. He likes him," says Oxx. "The horse is not a morning glory, just a nice worker, but he is a very ground-dependent colt, unusually so in fact. I would have liked to assess him more on the track, but he is pretty fit. It's a classic after all."

Bad ground is never a factor up the Rowley Mile and Azamour, who overcame testing conditions to win the Beresford Stakes last season, should get the ground he relishes.

Drawn 11 of the 14, Kinane will be only two boxes away from One Cool Cat. And there are a few more unsettling sights for a rival than being within range of Kinane in a classic.