Gustav Klimt in the frame
AIDAN O’BRIEN has captured the Qipco 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket eight times, and the word from Ballydoyle is that GUSTAV KLIMT (3.35) will make it nine.
This colt obliged in a fast time at Leopardstown last month and that spin will have put him cherry-ripe for this. Gustav Klimt showed he could handle a course with similar contours when overcoming severe problems in running to score on the July Course last summer.
SHARJA BRIDGE (1.50) has run only four times, so Roger Varian’s slow-burner has ample scope to improve past his rating of 99 when he rocks up in the Spring Lodge Handicap.
The four-year-old was second on his first run in a handicap off a mark of 95 at Sandown in September, so with physical progression assured, he will be hard to beat.
Karl Burke’s HAVANA GREY (2.20) was second in a Group One affair at Deauville in August and filled the same spot in a Group Two contest at Doncaster the following month. So the three-year-old is the sprinter to punt in the Group Three Longholes Palace House Stakes. He won four races in total last year so he knows where the winning post is located.
With 15 runners hurtling around the right-handed bend in the Matchbook Handicap at Goodwood, a low draw is going to be a big advantage.
MASHAM STAR (2.40) is a confirmed front-runner who has run well at this track before. Drawn in stall one, Mark Johnston’s well-handicapped four-year-old can make all.