The Rhod to glory

RHODODENDRON is primed to give Aidan O’brien a Classic double in the QIPCO 1,000 Guineas (3.35pm) at Newmarket today.

The daughter of Galileo was the top two-year-old filly in 2016, capping her campaign with a comprehensive two-and-a-quarterlength success over her stablemate, the reopposing Hydrangea, in the Group 1 Dubai Fillies’ Mile over this course and distance last October.

Word from Tipperary is that Rhododendron has been pleasing in the run-up to the first test of her three-year-old season, so it is no surprise that Ryan Moore – attempting a hat-trick in the fillies’ Classic – prefers her to Hydrangea and fellow Ballydoyle inmate Winter.

O’brien and Moore are also the men to follow in the Group 2 Charm Spirit Dahlia Stakes (2.20pm), in which SOMEHOW stands out.