/ Timeform / 02 May 2011 / Leave a Comment 
Blue Bunting storms up the rail in the 1000 Guineas
"Blue Bunting’s pedigree and style of racing strongly point to her being suited by a mile and a half, and she must have an excellent chance of emulating the Godolphin operation’s 2002 1000 Guineas winner Kazzia, who followed her Guineas success with a win in the Oaks."
Timeform look back over the weekend's classic action at Newmarket...
There is no doubt what the main story to emerge from the weekend's action at Newmarket was, and the Timeform assessment of Frankel's devastating win in the 2000 Guineas can be found elsewhere.
Besides the Guineas, the next most prestigious race that took place at HQ on Saturday was the Group 2 Jockey Club Stakes over a mile and a half, in which Dandino denied Henry Cecil a double on the card, edging out his Native Ruler by the narrowest of margins. The Jockey Club was by no means a strong Group 2 and Dandino may struggle to make an impact back in top company in this country, but he is certainly a very likeable colt and should pay his way again this year, perhaps back up in trip, stamina not the reason he failed in last season's St Leger. Plenty of credit has to go to Henry Cecil for getting Native Ruler back from a lengthy absence, and it's not inconceivable that he can eke a bit more improvement out of the horse this year, races like the Hardwicke at Royal Ascot likely to be on the agenda.
The result of the card's other pattern race, the Group 3 Palace House over five furlongs, served to underline how tightly knit the sprint division is, with Bryan Smart's Tangerine Trees just holding on in a blanket finish. The bare form has a rather muddling look to it, and is probably best treated with a degree of caution for all the winner's progress has been extraordinary (won a handicap off 69 this time last year).
What turned out to be a very good weekend for Godolphin trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni started with the three-year-old colt Ocean War's winner in Saturday's ten-furlong Newmarket Stakes. Ocean War looks well worth a crack at a Group race now, and is currently a [36.0] shot for the Derby. That will surely prove a step too far, but if he does run there he certainly won't fail for stamina, a mile and a half sure to suit him judged on pedigree and racing style.
The day's most notable handicap performance was that of William Haggas' lightly-raced four-year-old Green Destiny who was impressive in taking the nine-furlong Suffolk Stakes, marking himself down as one who will have pattern races on the agenda before long, though there is surely another good handicap to be won with him before that. Another handicapper worth following is the Henry Candy-trained Seal Rock, who produced a useful effort to land the six-furlong handicap on the card.
Sunday's 1000 Guineas was a considerably more conventional race than the 2000 and it produced an unheralded winner in Godolphin's Blue Bunting, who finished very strongly up the near rail to prevail from the Ballydoyle filly Together, with Maqaasid back in third. Blue Bunting's pedigree and style of racing strongly point to her being suited by a mile and a half, and she must have an excellent chance of emulating the Godolphin operation's 2002 1000 Guineas winner Kazzia, who followed her Guineas success with a win in the Oaks. At present, Blue Bunting is the [4.1] favourite for the Oaks.
The older filly I'm A Dreamer also produced a smart performance in Sunday's other pattern race, showing a decisive turn of foot to land the Group 3 Dahlia Stakes over nine furlongs. She now has the Windsor Forest at Royal Ascot on her agenda and the step back in trip there is unlikely to pose her any problems.
In terms of Sunday's handicaps, there were smart performances from Times Up in the opening mile-and-a-half event, while Hughie Morrison's Pastoral Player put himself near the top of the shortlist for the Wokingham with a strong-travelling win in the big-field event over six furlongs.
Timeform look ahead to the first Classic weeekend of the 2011 Flat season......
Timeform look back at the weekend's action at Sandown......
The National Hunt season comes to a close on Saturday, when Paul Nicholls will be crowned Champion Trainer for the sixth consecutive season, but it starts all over again on Sunday and there is also plenty to go at on the Flat across the two days....
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