Three of Aidan O'Brien's record 10 successes in The Curragh's G1 Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas came courtesy of the Newmarket Guineas heroes Rock of Gibraltar (Ire), Henrythenavigator and Gleneagles (Ire), and there is abundant evidence that Churchill (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) belongs in that strata. On Saturday, there will be shockwaves emanating from Kildare if the uncomplicated bay does not bring up a fourth consecutive win at the top level as he chases the tally of the “Rock” from 2001-2002. He has a similar resume so far, with his juvenile exploits in the G1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National S. here in September and the G1 Dewhurst S. at Newmarket in October followed by his Classic peak three weeks ago. Taken on by three unexposed and unbeaten pretenders to his crown on Newmarket's Rowley Mile, he simply went through the motions to dispose of them one-by-one. Without Barney Roy (GB) (Excelebration {Ire}) et al, this task appears relatively straightforward and his trainer is playing to Churchill's strengths rather than attempting to stretch him a week later. “It made sense to go to the Guineas, as we had seven others for the Derby,” the master of Ballydoyle commented. “We've been very happy with him, like we were going into Newmarket, but that was his first run of the year and we've been very happy with him since. Donnacha [O'Brien] rides him in all his canters and he's very happy with him. Because we have the others for the Derby I think he'll stay at a mile as long as he's happy. He's a very fast horse, he travels very well through his races and has a very quick pedigree.”
Joined by the Dewhurst runner-up and Guineas fourth Lancaster Bomber (War Front) and also Spirit of Valor (War Front), Churchill has his usual domestiques and so all is poised for him to bridge the gap to Royal Ascot with comfort.
Following his GI Kentucky Derby debacle, Thunder Snow (Ire) (Helmet {Aus}) returns to turf and it is interesting to note that he has just two lengths to find with Churchill on the form of the Dewhurst in which he was fourth. His subsequent easy five-length success in the G1 Criterium International over seven furlongs at Saint-Cloud in October was followed by two fine dirt displays when adding the Feb. 11 G3 UAE 2000 Guineas and Mar. 25 G2 UAE Derby, and he is an intriguing rival to the home-trained contingent. “He's been working really well and he's in good form,” trainer Saeed bin Suroor said. “I think there might be some rain coming which would suit him, as he won his Group 1 in France on soft, so good or good-to-soft ground would be fine for him.” Of his last-out effort, when he threw up a bucking display in the opening strides of the Kentucky Derby, the trainer added, “There was nothing obvious in Kentucky. The horse was 100% both before and after the race. I don't know what happened there, he'd never done that before and he's not done it again. It has happened now though and we will move on. He has been working well, but he has Churchill to beat and he looks a star. We have lots of respect for him.”
Where the likes of Barney Roy, Al Wukair (Ire) (Dream Ahead) and Eminent (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) failed at Newmarket, another colt with a perfect record, Irishcorrespondent (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), tries to derail Churchill's locomotive here. Short of that trio on the substance of his form, Ballygallon Stud's homebred nevertheless has drawn significant eulogy from trainer Mick Halford and there was much panache in his emphatic conditions win over this course and distance 13 days ago. “He won his maiden well and it's always a good sign if our horses are good enough to win first time out,” he said. “He showed a lot of class that day and we were very impressed with him. It was a step up on what he'd been showing at home, but the better ones tend to be like that. He was in France for a while last year, he went back to the farm as he was quite big and he came back to us last [year] back-end. We trained him through the winter and let him come in his own time. We knew he'd come forward for his first run, he hit the line well, he's handled the ground well both times and the ground should be decent.”
Ger Lyons saddles the outsider Glastonbury Song (Ire) (Casamento {Ire}) and while he has a mountain to climb on his latest performance when winning a mile conditions event on Dundalk's Polytrack on Apr. 21, his trainer is hopeful of a bold show. “I have him more as a seven-furlong horse rather than a mile, but I think he'll run well and I'm delighted to have a runner in a six-horse Guineas–I think he'll run a big race,” he commented. “He's 33-1. I don't bet, but if I did that would be some value.”
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