Gosden eyes first 2000 Guineas winner with Field of Gold

A glance at the betting markets provides the unsurprising knowledge that the three shortest antepost prices for the 2000 Guineas come from three global racing and breeding powerhouses – Juddmonte, Godolphin, and Coolmore. But did you know that John Gosden, a trainer who has landed major races the world over, never has won the Guineas?

One wouldn’t expect an American racing audience to know that the winner of the one-mile Craven Stakes, a course-and-distance Guineas prep at Newmarket, hasn’t produced a Guineas winner in 20 years. But know this: Field of Gold, who won the Craven on April 16 at Newmarket, looms a solid favorite to give Gosden his first Guineas on Saturday.

It’s become standard for English and Irish trainers to run top Guineas horses fresh off a winter break – thus the long gap to the last Craven and Guineas winner, Haafdh in 2004. But Gosden, who co-trains Field of Gold for Juddmonte with his son Thady, unleashed a monster last month.

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Field of Gold raced four times as a 2-year-old, his victory in the Group 3 Solario over good ground at Sandown Park earning him a trip to France for the Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere. In the Lagardere, contested over a soft course, Field of Gold and jockey Kieran Shoemark found themselves caught wide with no cover stalking the pace around Longchamp’s right-handed bends. Field of Gold pulled too hard in the early and middle stages and could muster only an even finish, checking in fourth.

In the Craven, Shoemark placed Field of Gold behind horses, eventually getting shuffled back to last of nine, coming to the furlong grounds looking for a hole. It would have to be a sizeable one: Field of Gold, by Kingman, is an immense animal. Worked into the clear, the colt displayed good acceleration considering his scope, the best part of his race a powerhouse run through the uphill Newmarket finish that led to a 3 1/2-length score over the very legitimate Wimbledon Hawkeye, also among the 11-runner Guineas field.

Godolphin and trainer Charlie Appleby have two runners, and one might expect Shadow of Light, who last saw action winning the Group 1 Dewhurst at Newmarket in October, to come up a shorter price than Ruling Court, whose top showing last year was his third in the Group 3 Acomb. But top stable jockey William Buick chose Ruling Court; watching the Jumeirah 2000 Guineas on March 1 at Meydan, one can see why. Granted, Ruling Court faced soft competition over a course far different than Newmarket’s, but after Buick worked him into the clear, Ruling Court finished like a blur, posting a six-length victory.

Expanded carries the Coolmore hopes, Aidan O’Brien’s lone starter after he withdrew several other possible runners at Thursday’s final declarations. Twice started at age 2, Expanded finished a close second behind Shadow of Light in the Dewhurst. O’Brien clearly thought highly of the colt, sending him to the Dewhurst off only a debut win, and obviously harbors similarly positive feelings bringing him off the bench to make his third start in the Guineas.

Trainers with horses like Wimbledon Hawkeye use the Guineas as a prep for the Derby. Gosden used the Craven as a prep toward what could be his first Guineas.

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