Guineas out of the picture for Wootton Bassett

Wootton Bassett, unraced since winning the Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere in France last fall, will not start in the English 2000 Guineas at Newmarket on April 30 after trainer Richard Fahey said on Tuesday that the colt was too far behind in his training.

“We’ve just run out of time with him,” Fahey told the Racing Post. “To run in a Guineas, you’ve got to get them there 100 percent, and Wootton Bassett wouldn’t be.”

Wootton Bassett had a workout on Tuesday and will be pointed for the French 2000 Guineas on May 15 or the Irish 2000 Guineas on May 22.

The defection of Wootton Bassett is the second contender to be declared from the English 2000 Guineas in as many days. On Monday, Godolphin Racing announced that Dubai Prince, a Group 3 winner in Ireland last year, would miss the springtime classics because of a pelvis injury.

Frankel, unbeaten in five starts, is 1-2 in future-book betting for the English 2000 Guineas.

Five going in Prix Penelope

Don’t Hurry Me and Skallet, second and third in a minor stakes earlier this year, and Pirika, a sharp maiden race winner last fall, are the leading contenders in Thursday’s Group 3 Prix Penelope at Saint-Cloud, France. The race is a prep for the French Oaks on June 12.

The Prix Penelope, which carries a purse of approximately $115,200, is run over 1 5/16 miles on turf and drew only five 3-year-old fillies, all of whom are seeking their first stakes wins.

Pirika, trained by Andre Fabre, has not started since her maiden win at Saint-Cloud last November, her second start.

Don’t Hurry Me, trained by Jean-Claude Rouget, was beaten a neck by stablemate Oasis of Peace in the Prix Rose de Mai over 1 5/16 miles on turf at Saint-Cloud on March 19, with Skallet a head further back.