Aidan O’Brien will likely have four runners in the Qipco 2000 Guineas at Newmarket (3.35pm) on Saturday, the first British classic of the new season.
The Ballydoyle trainer, who will bid to land his fourth successive victory in the Group 1 contest and eleventh in total, currently has Arizona, New World Tapestry, Royal Dornoch and Wichita remaining among the big race entries.
Speaking ahead of the first weekend of racing in Britain since March, O’Brien said:
“We won’t really know where we are until the horses get going. The horses have been ticking over, but obviously every time you think you had a target and put a sight on it, the next thing the target moves and you have to change again, so it’s a little bit tricky and horses do feel that.”
Arizona, a son of No Nay Never, who came home well in his races last season, is the perceived leading Ballydoyle contender for the Newmarket mile event:
“(He’s) been the horse on everyone’s mind all along and everyone is happy with him. He’s in good form and everything has gone well with him. He’s a big, rangy, scopey horse who we always thought would improve from two to three. We always thought a mile was going to be well within his grasp. I’m not sure how much further he will get.”
