Qipco 2000 Guineas (Group 1)

IN his last season riding, Frankie Dettori is determined to maximise his impact in the saddle and started the domestic season proper in the best possible fashion by landing the 2000 Guineas aboard Andrew Balding’s Chaldean, quickly putting behind him the embarrassment of being unseated by that colt at the start of the Greenham Stakes last month.

Chaldean was well backed on the day, and was sent off as 7/2 second favourite on the back of strong late support against the Aidan O’Brien pair Auguste Rodin and Little Big Bear.

In the event, that pair were disappointing, and Dettori must have been delighted to see that Chaldean only had the 125/1 outsider Hi Royal (Kevin Ryan/Oisin Murphy) for company from some way out, and the Dewhurst winner had little difficulty grabbing victory when the long-time leader hung left in the closing stages, scoring cosily by a length and three-quarters.

Unlucky

The unlucky horse in the race was Chaldean’s chief Dewhurst victim, Royal Scotsman (Paul & Oliver Cole/Jim Crowley), who raced freely and ran into trouble early on, but fared much the best of the group to race on the near side of the track, failing by just half a length to get up for second.

The winning time of 1m41.64secs was the slowest since Camelot won on soft ground in 2012, and was also more than three second slower than the 1000 Guineas on Sunday.

That reflects largely on the attritional nature of the ground on Saturday, which was affected by heavy rain on the day, whereas the ground on Sunday – although still officially soft – was beginning to dry out and was closer to good to soft by the time Mawj and Tahiyra settled down to fight it out 24 hours later.

In terms of excuses, Little Big Bear raced freely and seemed to cause some interference to those behind him after a couple of furlongs, including Auguste Rodin, while several in that group would have been helped by a pacemaker, inclined as they were to get lit up, and Royal Scotsman had to be reined in to get cover having broken smartly.

Best effect

He certainly wasn’t seen to best effect, and nor were the Ballydoyle pair, with Aidan O’Brien branding the contest a ‘non-event’ afterwards.

They can all be marked up/excused accordingly, but Chaldean was typically amenable for Dettori, and his ability to go forward in his races without fighting his rider has been a major plus for him, and something that shouldn’t be downplayed.

Horses often gain an advantage by being well positioned, but getting well positioned doesn’t tend to happen by accident, and that’s a point worth remembering. The winner now heads to Ascot for the St James’s Palace Stakes, and his excellent attitude will again make him the one to beat.

“It wasn’t his fault at Newbury as someone knocked my iron out of my foot,” said the winning rider about his Greenham debacle. “Today was what mattered as this race makes stallions.

“Chaldean has won a Group 1 at two and now a classic and he is by Frankel and full credit to Juddmonte as they have a good horse for the stallion shed in the future.

“I had a good spot. When I got to the top of the hill Oisin kicked on and he gave me a good fright. Once I got clear of him it was all over and I was able to enjoy it.”

VADREAM (Charlie Fellowes/Kieran Shoemark) came from well behind to catch pace-setting Live In The Dream (Adam West/Sean Kirrane) to land the Group 3 Palace House Stakes at Newmarket on Saturday by half a length.

The first two were drawn 15 and 16, so Manaccan (John Ryan/Frankie Dettori) did well to finish third just a length behind the runner-up from stall 1, especially as he was conceding weight to all his rivals under a penalty and had to cross from the far side to lay down his challenge.

Winner of the Cammidge Trophy at Doncaster on her turf return, Vadream shrugged off a lesser effort on All-Weather Finals day at Newcastle to record a career-best effort on a belated first try at five furlongs.

Helped by the soft ground, which suits her well, the five-year-old mare flew home after Live In The Dream had set a scorching pace in the conditions.

The 7/1 winner has a reputation for inconsistency but is now three from three on soft or heavy ground and is unbeaten in two runs with Shoemark doing the steering.

Fellowes said: “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t delighted when the rain came last night and then more this morning. She’s a very good mare, but she has to have her conditions and she got them today.”

Azure boost for Dods

Azure Blue (Paul Mulrennan) took the Listed Ellen Chaloner Stakes to give Michael Dods the boost his season needed. Dods had endured a frustrating spell with his horses, with just a single winner from 92 runners until the end of April, but the tide has turned, and Azure Blue gave him the first leg of an across-the-card treble on the day.

Making her return to action for the season, the four-year-old was made 7/2 joint-favourite and after travelling powerfully, she withheld the strong late surge of Heredia (Richard Hannon/Sean Levey) by half a length.

She needs some ease underfoot and is likely to do better still granted suitable conditions.