2,000 GUINEAS 01/05/2021

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Find him here https://twitter.com/littledarkone11 Poetic Flare 16/1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYCUtqPX8Bw Poetic Flare won what looked a wide open 2,000 Guineas that produced a thrilling finish, with Master Of The Seas losing out on the bob of a head and Lucky Vega doing best of the rest. But what can we make of this renewal? Wembley and Thunder Moon, the morning line favourites both finished tamely, in 11th and 14th, of 14, respectively, with the well-punted post-time favourite Battleground splitting the pair in 13th. Despite that trio disappointing, the first three across the line did their part in making the 2021 Guineas a race to remember, with less than half-a-length splitting them at the finish. Poetic Flare raced prominently, having broken best of all from the gate, and sat just in behind the pace-makers throughout before Manning raised him for an effort, with Lucky Vega at his tail. By contrast, Master Of The Seas settled in the rear before mounting his challenge on the run for the dip under Will Buick. All three loomed together on the far side of longtime leader Naval Crown and began to pull clear as they met the rising ground, hitting the line with daylight back to the pace-setter who held out for fourth. Watching the smooth progress Master Of The Seas was making widest of all, it was hard to see anything going with him a little under two furlongs from home but Poetic Flare and Lucky Vega, to their credit, really toughed it out and stuck their necks out all the way to the line. There is a strong argument to be made that there was a strong draw bias on the day, as the first three home broke from stalls 4, 2 and 3, with those drawn much higher, excusing the pace-maker, unable to really get involved. That taken into account, it’s easy to mark up the performances of Chindit who took a while to handle the change of pace as Naval Crown upped the ante but stayed on strongly to finish a very creditable 5th. As for the disappointments of the race, namely Wembley, Thunder Moon, Battleground and Mutasaabeq, I’d be inclined to give them all another chance. As for the Ballydoyle duo, with the money down for Battleground just before the off, it’s amazing to think that he wasn’t even able to land a blow. Wembley looked to be making some smooth progress 3 out before finding nothing for pressure under Ryan Moore, who seemed to take a look down as though something was wrong with the colt before coasting home. Thunder Moon was beaten too far to be true, given his 2-year-old form, to have trailed in last, something had to have been amiss and Mutasaabeq actually ran pretty well on the wrong side of the course. He was exposed to the elements from a long way out, blunting his effort at the finish and he couldn’t make up any ground in the closing stages. All four colts could well still turn out to be half decent but they’ve got plenty of work to do to get back and competitive. Poetic Flare is set to take on tomorrow’s French 2,000 Guineas where he has a live chance of repeating the feat if having fully recovered from his Newmarket’s excursions as he's game as you like. He showed a really good attitude to fend off both Master Of The Seas and Lucky Vega and if able to get to the front again, he could prove too difficult to peg back once more. Will be well worth watching. Thinking to the future, I’m really hoping a handful of these reappear in the St James’ Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot. Plenty started their season’s out in the Guineas, which may have been to their disadvantage but if they all arrive here on song, fit and well, it’d make for a seriously interesting clash, throwing the likes of St Mark’s Basilica into the mix could make for a fascinating contest. To nail my colours to a mast, if they all do make it to Royal Ascot, at this moment in time I’d be inclined to side with Wembley again, hoping that that uncharacteristically poor performance in the Guineas was a flash in the pan and he could return to the form he was in at the back-end of last year... For all he might now have a small mountain to climb. One to watch next time out: Lucky Vega 1,000 Guineas 02/05/21 Mother Earth 10/1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eW-TDSApCw Santa Barbara arrived at Newmarket as supposedly the Ballydoyle ‘good thing’, with her lofty reputation echoing throughout the racing media. But it wasn’t to be for the daughter of Camelot as her stablemate, Mother Earth, landed the spoils in fairly emphatic fashion. The filly was last seen finishing a running-on second in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf last November and entered here seemingly very much the support act to her stablemate but was able to eclipse Santa Barbara’s efforts in fine style on the Rowley Mile. Mother Earth won the race with a sweeping run widest of all, virtually following in the footsteps of Master Of The Seas the day before, and sustaining her run all the way up to the line. Santa Barbara and Saffron Beach looked prime to make their presence felt but neither could compete with the Zoffany filly’s challenge. As much hype as there was for Santa Barbara, people will be quick to dismiss this performance, but she’s run an absolute belter given it was just her second start. She travelled well and lost nothing on proven group performers. There’s plenty of discussion about how she’ll be a much better proposition upped in trip and as much as that will undoubtedly be true, I’d be fascinated to see her back over a mile again, given that natural improvement for the experience. Wherever her career takes her, she really could be special. There were some other eye-catching performances in behind with Fev Rover, Alcohol Free, Sacred and Vadream all showing up well. Fev Rover, arguably the surprise package of the 1,000 Guineas, attempted to go pillar to post and only failed by a length and a quarter despite having raced pretty freely throughout the opening few furlongs. Alcohol Free put up another typically gutsy effort, probably at a disadvantage running on the wrong side of the course, but she really stuck her neck out and you really couldn’t rule her out getting competitive over a mile, and even more so an easier mile, again. Sacred travelled menacingly in behind runners over 2 furlongs out and when switched out you really thought she was going to get competitive before tying up in the final half of a furlong or so. She’ll be much better for a drop down in distance where her high cruising speed and change of pace will no doubt stand her in good stead. Could yet be a very good filly. Vadream also ran a very encouraging race from the rear, trying to slipstream eventual winner Mother Earth right the way through but failing for that tactical pace as things began to hot up. She seems to be a filly who is improving for her racing and will no doubt have a group race in her at some point and will no doubt be a filly for connections to get excited about with some more experience behind her. There are a handful of fillies who could still mix it with this lot, and it could make for another seriously interesting race at Royal Ascot, in the Coronation Stakes. Snow Lantern is a filly that I’m incredibly excited about, despite her defeat at York the last day, and I really think she could be the one to give these most to think about – especially with the likes of Santa Barbara likely to step up for the Oaks at the start of the month. One to watch next time out: Sacred