Native Trail rubberstamps position as the horse to beat in 2000 Guineas

Classic quotes don't make huge appeal

by David Cleary

Six Guineas entries lined up for the bet365 Craven Stakes, but all eyes were on just one of them, the unbeaten Native Trail, sent off at 4/1-on. Physically, he is still imposing, if not quite so far ahead of his contemporaries by size as he was, and he looked as if there was a little bit left to work on.

With 17 lb in hand on Timeform ratings, it was going to be hard for him to better the form he'd shown in winning the National Stakes and the Dewhurst at two, but he wasn't far off matching those efforts, and as a Guineas trial went, it's hard to think he could have done much more. He travelled, he quickened, eventually, and his rider didn't have to over exert himself in the saddle.

There were though things that were learnt: that Native Trail had no problem stepping up to a mile; that as in the Dewhurst, once he hit full stride, entering the final furlong, he was stronger all the way to the finish, so a typical Guineas ought to play to his strengths.

With his stable-companion and likely main danger Coroebus having had a gallop on the track in the morning as his sole public appearance before the Guineas, Native Trail's post-race odds for the classic don't make huge appeal. However, there still more appealing than his odds for the Derby, where a straw-clutching reading of his pedigree is required to think he'll stay.

Appleby strengthens Guineas grip

by Matt Brocklebank

The move up to a mile was always going to suit unbeaten champion juvenile Native Trail on pedigree and if he was the archetypal ‘man against boys’ last year, it could take some time before the class of 2022 eventually has a chance of catching up with him based on Wednesday’s bet365 Craven Stakes.

If by some chance you’d never seen the son of Oasis Dream race before, but happened to be financially involved at odds of 1/4 (have a word), there may have been a brief moment of concern – a raised eyebrow or a fractionally curled lip at the very least.

But we’ve seen that briefest moment so often already that it’s become very much expected from this horse and in truth it was a thing of beauty seeing William Buick just let the colt freewheel for a handful of strides going down into the dip before clicking through the gears quite effortlessly.

A bit like those incredible pieces of kit used in the velodrome at the Olympics (they’re not bikes as you know it are they?), this horse needs a bit of nudging to get rolling, but his top speed is seemingly unmatched and the only question that remains in terms of the 2000 Guineas – for which he is now a 13/8 shot at best – is could there be something speedy enough to expose that brief flat spot and really make him pay?

It won’t be lost on trainer Charlie Appleby that the main danger is most likely his rather more explosive yet similarly talented Coroebus, who looked bright and ready in his Rowley Mile gallop before racing on the same afternoon.

It’s going to take something very special to end Native Trail’s winning sequence in a couple of weeks’ time – beating the pair of them looks almost unthinkable at this point.

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