2016 2000 Guineas Ante Post Betting Preview PT 3

He then reappeared in the July Stakes at Newmarket with a Group 2 score and followed it up three weeks later with a strike at Goodwood - this time going off as the 11/8 betting favourite for the first time. Following that he took the Darley Prix Mornay at Deauville - sent off in a short field of 5 as the 1/2 favourite and then conquered the well-respected Buratino in the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes. 

Shalaa has formed a good partnership with Frankie Dettori and looks like he should be able to continue his dominance into the three-year-old campaign. While many would certainly admit that Air Force Blue obviously possesses significant upside, this is a horse that excels against pretty much everyone he has faced and you can bank on plenty of punters willing to take on the O’Brien contender in favour of the Blue Team’s son of Invincible Spirit. 

Massaat was just a few lengths behind Air Force Blue when he was able to muster up a second place finish in the Dewhurst Stakes at a very solid price tag of 20/1. The Shadwell-bred son of Teofilo has only got three races under his belt and it’s clear that many punters think he’s dead in the reckoning here to factor into the English classics next year. 

He certainly outran his odds in the Dewhurst and that was his first step up after winning a maiden race at Leicester when sent off as the 4/7 favourite with Paul Hanagan in the irons that day.  Prior to that we have Cymric beating him just by a head in his professional debut at Sandown and he was close that day and was able to follow it up in quick succession in the aforementioned Leicester maiden. 

Aidan O’Brien’s undefeated Hit It A Bomb was notable for his trip to America when he bested a talented group of contenders to win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Keeneland. He was sent off at 9/2 on the day and was able to get the better of a pretty select group. Prior to that he had taken a listed score at Dundalk and, even more impressively, was able to get the better of a 22 horse field in a maiden race at The Curragh.