IF you flicked the tele on inside the final 150 yards of the 2000 Guineas, there would be no doubt in your mind that Magna Grecia was the best horse in the race.
He stormed clear in the closing stages under Donnacha O’Brien at odds of 11-2 to give Aidan O’Brien an incredible 10th win in the historic contest.
But there is a fair amount of dissatisfaction about the running of the Group 1, which saw the 19-strong field break into two groups.
The main body of the field, which counted the red-hot 9-4 favourite Ten Sovereigns among it’s number, went straight up the middle of the track.
Meanwhile, champion jockey Silvestre De Sousa ploughed a lone furrow aboard Shine So Bright (drawn 18) on the stands rail, shadowed by the eventual winner (drawn 17) and runner-up King Of Change (drawn 19).
It was clear at an early stage that top jock Ryan Moore was struggling to get cover aboard Ten Sovereigns, who had his stamina to prove on his first attempt at a mile.
In contrast, Donnacha O’Brien was as happy as Larry as Shine So Bright set a strong early gallop to give him the perfect tow into the contest.
The 211th running of the Guineas essentially became a three-runner race between those drawn highest, and at the half way stage they enjoyed a clear advantage, both in terms of distance and having the rail to guide them.
Try as they might, the main group could not bridge the gap, and Magna Grecia was left to brush off 66-1 outsider King Of Change to win his second Group 1.
You can put a line through the run of Ten Sovereigns, who will drop back to 6f in the future, while the apparent huge improvement in form from Richard Hannon’s 92-rated King Of Change can surely be put down to the pace bias.
Other horses affected included the Craven winner Skardu, who stayed on well in the closing stages to take third having raced on the far side, and Kevin Prendergast’s fourth placed runner Madhmoon, who would certainly have appreciated a stronger gallop.
You can defeinitely upgrade the performance of the third, fourth and fifth horses. Bar Ten Sovereigns, the main protagonists here should lock horns in either the Irish 2000 Guineas or the St James’s Palace at Ascot, when hopefully a truly run race will sort them out.
But such was the strength with which Magna Grecia stormed through the line (you also have to take into account the fact that his rider was forced into committing for home earlier than ideal), it would take an almighty performance from one of his rivals to turn the tables.
If sectional timing data was more readily available it would help settle the argument, but quite simply none of the defeated horses could live with the winner’s change of gear going down into the dip. Without the numbers to back it up, I’ll trust my gut and suggest the best horse won.
