By Sam Turner -
Owen Burrows doesn’t believe training counterpart Aidan O’Brien “has lost too much sleep” after witnessing the recent 2000 Guineas trials staged at Newmarket and Newbury.
O’Brien’s colt, the highly regarded City Of Troy, is the clear favourite for the Guineas on May 4th following an exemplary two-year-old campaign which culminated in a three-and-a-half length defeat of the Burrows trainee, Alyanaabi, when they met in the G1 Dewhurst Stakes last October at Newmarket.
The Shadwell owned and bred Alyanaabi will head straight to the Guineas, while other contenders have contested a trial beforehand and added more context to his juvenile form.
One such horse is Richard Hannon’s Haatem, fifth in the Dewhurst and then the clear winner of the Craven Stakes at Newmarket last week.
Reflecting on the outcome of the trials, Burrows said: “Richard Hannon’s horse won well at Newmarket, he was behind us in the Dewhurst but it’s a new year.
“I shouldn’t think Aidan has lost too much sleep, we’ve all got City Of Troy to beat if he turns up in the same form he was in as a two-year-old.
“We’ve all got to take him on, but you can’t run from one horse.”
The son of exciting sire Too Darn Hot may have been beaten in the Dewhurst by his exeptional Irish rival, but he did little to harm his reputation with a solid run in second and is reported in good form following a racecourse gallop ahead of the Craven meeting.
“He came out of that fine, he did a bit of work on Saturday as the ground was beautiful at home last weekend,” said Burrows.
“We’re getting a drop of rain again but nothing too measurable and I think he appreciated the nice ground on Saturday.
“He’s in good form and, touch wood, it’s all systems go now.”
