2000 GUINEAS LATEST ODDS AND SELECTIONS

It’s been all about St Nicholas Abbey (Montjeu) for the better part of a year as AP O’Brien’s bay colt went three from three last year while developing a first-class partnership with Johnny Murtagh. He took the Group 1 Racing post Trophy last year over a tough field of 11 that included a few entrants into this year’s 2000 Guineas. It’s clear that this is his race to lose and his prices range from 11/8 to 6/4 so he looks a better shot at the top end of the forecasts for all of those looking for a value play on the 2010 2000 Guineas.

Elusive Pimpernel (Elusive Quality) is shaping up as the key challenger to St Nicholas Abbey and one thing that he has over the favourite is a solid win under his belt this season. He bested a field of nine in the Craven Stakes at Newmarket on April 15th and we really got a glimpse of some tactical speed we hadn’t seen before with the Dunlop-trained colt. He has a good late push, but he was able to pick it up another gear in the Craven when it mattered most. His second place finish to St Nichoals Abbey in the Racing Post Trophy last year does bode pretty well and he will look to improve. He looked sharp under Ryan Moore. He’s trading between 4/1 and 5/1 with most major bookmakers.
Canford Cliffs (Tagula) was the winner of the Group 2 Coventry Stakes last year in mid-June and his first step up in class to the Group 1 level aw him finish 3rd in a field of 5 when sent off as the 4/9 favourite. He was a beaten favourite again in his prep run for this race- the Grade 3 Greenham Stakes at Newbury on April 17th. He is interesting but needs to improve significantly and the step up in class may be too much for him. He trades as high as 8.0.
Awzaan (Alhaarth) is Hamdan Al-Maktoum’s contender in this race and you’ll find the classy brown colt looking for his fifth win in his fifth race. He is undefeated and has run against some quality contenders- but he has avoided the top class runners like St Nicholas Abbey and Elusive Pimpernel. He is a Group 2 and Group 1 winner and ended the season with a real bang by capturing the Shadwell Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket against Radiohead, who has been running at the top level in the United States for the bulk of this season. Despite being undefeated, this runner has never been listed as a favourite and he seems to revel in his underdog status. This is a very serious contender and he trades as high as 9.0.
We’ll be going into further detail as we get closer to post-time so be sure to stay tuned to Betting Choice. I think Awzaan is a more serious contender than many and a St Nicholas Abbey/Awzaan forecast could be a powerful bet.