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Frankel starts favourite

A comfortable winner of the Greenham Stakes — viewed as the trial race for the 2,000 Guineas — at Newbury on April 16, Frankel will set out as a 1-2 shot in the mile-long (1.6-kilometre) run for 3-year-olds that is open to both colts and fillies.

Being the most clear-cut favourite in the classic since Nijinsky in 1970 is a testament to the pedigree of the imposing Frankel, who has finished first in five successive races and has all the attributes to dominate a strong field.

“There’s a certain amount of pressure and you always worry a little bit that things might go wrong,” said Cecil, one of Britain’s most famous trainers who nevertheless is looking for his first win in the race since Wollow in 1976.

Tom Queally will ride Frankel, whose biggest rival could be unbeaten Irish-trained runner and second favourite Pathfork, a 5-1 shot with most bookmakers on Thursday. “With expectations of Frankel riding so high, I will be going through Saturday’s 2,000 Guineas with even more care than usual,” Queally said. “There’s a lot of talent in the race and he will be racing on ground faster than he’s ever run on before.” Aidan O’Brien may have withdrawn Alexander Pope and Master Of Hounds — who is due to compete in the 137^th edition of the Kentucky Derby on May 7 — on Thursday at the final declaration stage, but the trainer still has third favourite Roderic O’Connor in the field.

Casamento, ridden by Frankie Dettori, and Saamidd will be the two horses riding in the blue silks of Dubai’s Godophin stable. “He’s in very good form and he’s got enough speed,” Simon Crisford, Godolphin’s racing manager said of Casamento. His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, is very pleased with him.” Canadian-bred Nijinsky, one of the greatest thoroughbreds, was the last of 15 horses to follow up a triumph at the 2,000 Guineas with wins in the Derby and the St. Leger Stakes — the three races that make up the Triple Crown in British flatracing. The 1,000 Guineas, the second of British horse racing’s five classics, takes place on Sunday.

French horse Moonlight Cloud was 9-2 joint favourite with bookmakers William Hill along with Havant, whose trainer Michael Stoute is bidding for a third success in the race after Musical Bliss in 1989 and Russian Rhythm in 2003. The 1,000 and 2,000 Guineas are the first two races of the inaugural British Champions Series, a collection of the best 35 races in the flat horseracing calendar which climaxes with the richest fixture in British racing history — the British Champions Day at Ascot in October.