SAX MACHINE
Warrior to put O’Brien on cloud nine with Guineas glory
SAXON WARRIOR is strongly fancied to defend his unbeaten record and give Aidan O’Brien a record ninth victory in the 2,000 Guineas (3.35, ITV) at Newmarket.
The son of Deep Impact and 2011 Moyglare Stud Stakes heroine Maybe travels to Headquarters boasting a perfect three-from-three record from his juvenile campaign.
Having made a successful debut at the Curragh at the end of August, the O’Brien (left) trainee stepped up to Group 2 company to lift the Beresford Stakes at Naas.
And Saxon Warrior racked up the hat-trick Roaring Lion when denying by a neck in the
Group 1 Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster in October — a triumph that, as O’Brien’s 26th at the top level in 2018, beat the previous best set by US legend Bobby Frankel.
Bookmakers immediately made Saxon Warrior, reported by his trainer to have grown into “a monster” during the winter, clear favourite for the Derby at Epsom on June 2.
The colt is indeed bred to shine over middle distances as the summer wears on, but his stablemate Camelot completed the DoncasterNewmarket double when landing the Guineas in the spring 2012 — and Saxon Warrior, the mount of O’Brien’s son Donnacha, is taken to follow suit. Fellow Ballydoyle runner
Gustav Klimt heads the market for the QIPCOsponsored Classic and, with Ryan Moore in America to partner Mendelssohn in the Kentucky Derby, is the choice of Seamie Heffernan.
He is respected, along with Mark Johnston’s Elarqam, a son of Guineas winners Frankel and Attraction and unbeaten in two starts as a two-year-old.
Masar ran away with the Craven Stakes at Newmarket for Godolphin on his return to action, while the other traditional Guineas trial, Newbury’s Greenham Stakes, went to James Garfield.
A first Classic runner for rising star George Scott, James Garfield and Frankie Dettori denied Expert Eye by three-quarters of a length.
Close up in fourth was Raid, and David Simcock’s Doncaster debut winner is the suggestion ahead of fellow outsiders — and Coventry Stakes first and second
Rajasinghe and Headway — for those seeking an each-way play at bigger odds.