The Roger Varian-trained Al Musmak (Ire) (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) will be fighting to challenge his outsider status when he starts in the Qipco 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket on Saturday week.
The colt brings smart form to the table with a Listed win in Haydock's Ascendant S. sandwiched between creditable graded efforts behind Rosallion (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}) at Ascot and then in his final start of the year when finishing second to Ghostwriter (Ire) (Invincible Soul {Ire}) in the Royal Lodge.
A return to the Rowley Mile for the opening Classic of the season has been on the cards ever since, with Al Musmak a 66-1 chance.
“Our intention is to lead Al Musmak in the 2000 Guineas and he is training well at home,” Varian said. “He has been in very solid form since last year, finishing runner-up to Rosallion in the Pat Eddery Stakes and winning the strong Ascendant Stakes when second, third and fourth all ran at Sandown in the Classic Tests and we will be very interested in having a good look at that form. He was then not beaten very far by horse Clive Cox [Ghostwriter] when second in the Royal Lodge.
“He is a player in strong form, rated 108 and it was always our intention to go straight to the Guineas with him and we are looking forward to doing that.”
He added, “There were a lot of good horses from those fall races and he was in solid shape. He is 108, not 118, so he needs to improve to take home the 2000 Guineas. But he is coming into the race fresh, he has had a good winter and he looks a stronger horse – running well is not beyond him.”
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for a PDF or daily digest.
This story was posted in Europe, News sharing Europe, Top European news and tagged Al Musmak, New market, Roger Varian.
