Gstaad

Golden boy of the week has to be Starspangledbanner (though Wayne Lordan and Karl Burke both deserve consideration for that title). To have had both Cartier champion two-year-olds last year was a big enough feather in his cap but for both Gstaad and Precise to progress into Classic winners in the space of 24 hours at the Curragh cements their sire's position among the elite. A more in-depth look at the Starspangledbanner story to date in TDN back in December put forward the suggestion that the best days were still...

Saturday, Curragh, post time: 15:40, TATTERSALLS IRISH 2,000 GUINEAS-G1, €290,000, 3yo, c/f, 8fT Field: Alparslan (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}), Bamako Beach (Ire) (Sands Of Mali {Fr}), Distant Storm (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), Go Just Do It (GB) (Kingman {GB}), Gstaad (GB) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), Neolithic (Ire) (Sioux Nation), Pacific Avenue (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), Power Blue (Ire) (Space Blues {Ire}), Take Charge Star (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), Thesecretadversary (Ire) (St Mark's Basilica {Fr}). TDN Analysis: Take out Bow Echo and we'd be talking about one of the most impressive 2,000 Guineas winners...

It seems hard to believe now that the form of the Ballydoyle stable was being questioned prior to the 2,000 Guineas, before Gstaad (Starspangledbanner) acted as the pivot to a major upturn and sequence of wins in key races in early May. That he slammed Godolphin's genuine Group 1 performer Distant Storm (Night Of Thunder) and the rest by upwards of eight lengths in that Newmarket Classic and still managed to be convincingly beaten is the remarkable story of this year's renewal and he gets the chance to excel in...

Aidan O'Brien's pair of Gstaad (Starspangledbanner) and True Love (No Nay Never) headline the confirmations for the first Irish Classics of the season at the Curragh this weekend. Gstaad filled the runner-up spot behind Bow Echo (Night Of Thunder) in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket earlier this month and, with George Boughey keeping his charge fresh for Royal Ascot, the Starspangledbanner colt is the odds-on favourite to gain compensation in Saturday's Tattersalls Irish 2,000 Guineas. A maximum field of 13 will go to post, with Karl Burke's G3 Greenham Stakes...

It's a case of be ready for anything over the next three days, with Friday seeing the beginning of Newmarket's three-day Guineas meeting, Ascot's card of Royal meeting pointers, the traditional May Day fixture at Saint-Cloud and the first part of an intriguing two-day meeting at Goodwood. Saturday's 2,000 Guineas and Sunday's 1,000 Guineas are at the centre of a storm of activity which will require further analysis when calm is briefly restored next week. Once the draw had been made for Saturday's G1 Betfred 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket on...

The Aidan O'Brien-trained Gstaad has been supplemented back into the Betfred 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket at a cost of £30,000. Along with Albert Einstein, he had been incorrectly scratched from the race earlier this month due to an administration error.  While Albert Einstein remains an absentee, Gstaad is one of four Ballydoyle contenders in contention at Monday's confirmation stage, with dual Group 1 winner Puerto Rico, Causeway and Flushing Meadows also on the list of 20 colts still in the mix. On his Guineas squad, O'Brien said, "The current thinking...

Puerto Rico (Wootton Bassett) is likely for the G1 2000 Guineas with Gstaad (Starspangledbanner) eyeing the French equivalent, according to trainer Aidan O'Brien. A start for Saturday's G3 Greenham Stakes third Albert Einstein (Wootton Bassett) is still undecided. Puerto Rico has won his last three starts, with tallies in the G2 Champagne Stakes, the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and the G1 Criterium International. A winner of the G2 Coventry Stakes and the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, Gstaad was also second in a trio of Group 1s: the Prix Morny,...

Saturday, Newmarket, post time: 15:35, THE BETFRED 2000 GUINEAS STAKES-G1, £525,000, 3yo, c/f, 8fT Field: Alparslan (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}), Avicenna (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), Billecart (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), Bow Echo (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), Distant Storm (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), Gstaad (GB) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), Into The Sky (Ire) (Starman {GB}), King's Trail (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), Lord Britain (GB) (Universal {Ire}), Needle Match (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), Oxagon (Fr) (Frankel {GB}), Padraig Dawn (Ire) (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}), Power Blue (Ire) (Space Blues {Ire}), Thesecretadversary...

Aidan O'Brien has said that Albert Einstein and Gstaad could yet be supplemented for the 2,000 Guineas after being mistakenly scratched from the Classic on Tuesday morning. The much-vaunted Albert Einstein headed ante-post lists for the Rowley Mile showpiece prior to his disappointing reverse in Saturday's Gladness Stakes at the Curragh, after which O'Brien suggested his charge could revert to sprinting while leaving the option of a possible Guineas bid open. Gstaad, winner of the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot last summer and the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at the...

Breeders' Cup hero Gstaad (Starspangledbanner) is as short as 8-1 in the betting, as the entries for the G1 Betfred 2000 Guineas and G1 Betfred 1000 Guineas were released on Tuesday. There are 52 colts entered and 57 fillies at this entry stage. Sharing those odds with George Boughey's G2 Royal Lodge Stakes hero Bow Echo (Night Of Thunder), the G2 Coventry Stakes winner is one of nine in the race for Aidan O'Brien and the Coolmore partners. Also narrowly second in a trio of Group 1 races last year--the...

Aidan O'Brien has outlined his early-season Classic plans and revealed that he will consider running Gstaad (Starspangledbanner) and Puerto Rico (Wootton Bassett)in the Qipco 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket this spring. The Ballydoyle handler has saddled a record 10 winners of the Rowley Mile Classic and possesses another strong hand ahead of this year's renewal, with Gstaad and Puerto Rico joined towards the head of the ante-post betting by stablemate Albert Einstein, (Wootton Bassett) who missed the second half of his two-year-old campaign through injury. Gstaad and Puerto Rico did get...

The cliche is that it only takes 40 years to become an overnight success.  Obviously it can never take that long for a horse but Starspangledbanner could be forgiven for thinking something along those lines as he ends 2025 with his status at an all-time high. There were several notable aspects to this year's Cartier Awards, most notably the happy situation that all bar one of the winners will still be in training in 2026. Another stand-out feature was that both the Champion Two-Year-Old Colt (Gstaad) and the Champion Two-Year-Old...