Procrastination is the thief of time and waiting for Aidan O'Brien to make a decision on running plans certainly involves a few of any life's allotted months, days and hours.
Indeed, deliberations can extend right up to the last few minutes when it's time to declare and, unlike most other trainers, usually (rather irritatingly) without an accompanying booked jockey.
On Thursday morning, the runners for Saturday’s Betfred 2000 Guineas began to trickle into the BHA's fixtures website ahead of the 10am deadline.
A day earlier, O’Brien had indicated that the high class Gstaad would probably be his only runner while countering that "'the 'lads' (Messrs Smith, Magnier and Tabor) still haven’t made up their minds yet…..nothing is set in stone.”
You will remember that, a few weeks ago, Gstaad had been mistakenly taken out of the race due to a computer which went “bananas” (really?) and 'the lads' had to fork out a £30,000 supplementary fee to get him back in.
They can probably afford it but, even then, he didn't seem to be a certain runner.
As my winter fancy for the race, I was anxious to see if he would run.
By 8.45, there were 10 declared including ante-post favourite Bow Echo but no sign of a representative from Ballydoyle. A little while later there were 12 declarations.
At 9.20, still no sign of Gstaad or any of the other O'Brien entries.
After 9.30, declarations cannot be cancelled with the final confirmation at 10.
I went off to boil some eggs.
At 9.40, there were now 14 runners (all jocked up) but not Gstaad. I keep refreshing the page.
Time is getting short.
I peel an egg.
9.45, no.
Hope the computer isn't going bananas again. If not, why leave it so late? It's the 2000 Guineas for goodness sake!
9.50 nope.
9.52 not handling the tension too well.
Then.....9.54 he's IN!!
And, miraculously, Ryan Moore is jocked up!
If I was losing the will to live, what must it be like in the Ballydoyle office?
Why put everyone through it? What if there were more bananas?
So a decision was finally, finally made and I for one think think this is the right one.
Gstaad had a great two-year-old campaign winning three of his six races including impressive wins in the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Breeders Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar in early November.
In between, he finished second in perhaps the three most notable races for juveniles, beaten a head by the filly Venetian Sun in the Prix Morny, beaten a head again by Zavateri in the National Stakes at The Curragh and then beaten three-quarters of a length by the ill-fated Gewan in the Dewhurst Stakes, Britain's top two-year-old Group One.
On the latter occasion, Gstaad pulled quite hard in the early stages but was keeping on well all the way to the line finishing a length and a half clear of Godolphin's number one Guineas hope Distant Storm with Zavateri, the Craven Stakes winner Oxagon and Greenham winner Alparslan in fifth and sixth respectively.
With all due respect to Bow Echo, this form seems to stand out and one wonders why it's been so difficult (or was it?) to send him back to Newmarket considering how well he seemed to handle the Rowley Mile.
Presumably, stable companion Puerto Rico will now head for the French Guineas next Saturday which, despite there being no decision (!) in recent weeks, always looked the most likely destination given his Group One victories at Longchamp and Saint-Cloud last October.
As far as the stable form is concerned there are mixed messages on either side of the Irish Sea.
O'Brien's genius is improving horses through a long Flat season and April can sometimes be a quiet month but, at the time of writing, he has sent out 17 winners from 73 runners (a strike rate of 23%) so far this year.
It's a different story in Britain though as his six runners have all been beaten including heavy defeats for Action and New Zealand in Classic trials at Sandown and Epsom in recent days.
And he hasn't sent out a 2000 Guineas winner since Magna Grecia in 2019.
So it's difficult to be sure how ready Gstaad will be and whether the procrastination and all that thieving of time will be worth it.
But at least his supporters will get a run for their money.
Phew!
Betfred 2,000 Guineas
Click here for full racecard and free video form
Alparslan
Avicenna
Billecart
Bow Echo
Distant Storm
Gstaad
Into The Sky
King's Trail
Lord Britain
Needle Match
Oxagon
Padraig Dawn
Power Blue
Thesecretadversary
Venetian Prince
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