Betfred Saturday Horse Racing Tips: Four fancies on 2000 Guineas day

The first Classic of the British flat season is upon us with the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket taking centre stage this weekend.

City Of Troy has been all the rage since his superb unbeaten juvenile campaign with Aidan O’Brien nominating him as a potential Triple Crown hope this season, but I've gone against him for my Betfred Saturday Horse Racing tips.

13:45 Newmarket - Rabaah @ 15/2

Lots of our old favourite sprint handicappers turn up here in what is often a case of ‘whose turn is it now?'.

If there is one runner who still has plenty of improvement tin the locker, it's Charles Hills’ RABAAH.

The four-year-old will be having just his sixth start of his career and he hasn’t been seen since a close-up fifth behind winning machine Quinault at York last June.

He was giving the winner 17lbs then, and he went on to be rated 102. Here, Rabaah is on a mark of 96 and with Abernant winner Washington Heights in second and G1 Sprint Cup sixth Mill Stream in second that day, he has the scope the improve greatly against some of the elder statesman.

14:20 Newmarket - Majestic @ 9/1

A wide-open handicap where Torito will rate the likely winner for many.

After landing the Betfred Lester Piggott Handicap at Epsom on Betfred Derby day, he ran a solid fourth at Royal Ascot two weeks later but hasn’t been seen since. It is likely he will be running in Group contests at some pint this season, but he may be vulnerable first time back against hardy opposition.

Most of these met at the Craven meeting in a mile-long handicap, but the extra furlong could see MAJESTIC enhance his good course record.

A winner and fourth in the last two Cambridgeshires over this track and trip, he ran well for a long way before tiring close home on his return here last month. He won’t mind what the ground does, and the Jack Channon yard are in cracking form right now, operating at a 25% strike rate in the last fortnight.

He takes on the likes of Hafeet Alain, Dutch Decoy and Theoryofeverything again, and I expect this tactically-versatile type to come out on top with the run under his belt and serve it up to the likely favourite.

14:55 Newmarket - Mitbaahy @ 3/1

Blink and you’ll miss the Abernant Stakes over the minimum trip, which sees eight speedsters go to post.

Twilight Calls hasn’t always delivered on his promise, but he has solid Group 1 form on his CV and Ryan Moore rides again, having been placed in the last two King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Beautiful Diamond was a speedy juvenile last year and she gets plenty of weight from the older brigade here, but MITBAAHY caught many an eye in the Abernant on his stable debut here at the Craven meeting last month.

He made up plenty of ground form the rear when conditions were favouring front runners. The drop to the minimum trip will hold no fears having won at Newbury over it in September and showing a lot of speed to win over it at Sandown last summer.

Charles Hills is adept at handling sprinters and he could get even more improvement out of the five-year-old this season.

15:35 Newmarket - Ghostwriter e/w @ 14/1

The 2000 Guineas revolves around City Of Troy and we hope to see a star born on the Rowley Mile.

Aidan O’Brien has kept no secret of the regard in which he is held, labelling the son of Justify as his best ever two-year-old. He will take the world of beating but I’d rather play against him each-way given there is always the potential of an upset - as we saw when Auguste Rodin finished last 12 months ago.

There is so much talent up against him. Rosallion already has a Group 1 success courtesy of his Longchamp win in the Jean-Luc Lagardere in October and the team say he is streets ahead of Craven winner Haatem. He is smart, while Notable Speech (3-3 on the all-weather at Kempton) and GHOSTWRITER bring unbeaten records into the race.

It's the latter I like. He has already won over a mile when landing the Royal Lodge over course and distance as a juvenile and will be staying on strongly. He is said to have wintered well and although he needs to improve again, that almost looks a given - and if the track doesn’t receive too much rain, I think he has a great chance of hitting the frame.

Task Force found only the excellent Vandeek too strong last year, but he has never gone beyond six furlongs and needs to settle better to see out the extra quarter of a mile, while Night Raider couldn’t have been more impressive in his two Southwell wins and has been talked up by connections - though this is a huge step up in class and he is hard to assess.

Alyanaabi is another to mention. He burst through to win at this track in September and was the one that got closest to City Of Troy in the Dewhurst. He won't mind what happens to the ground and although it is hard to see him turning the form around, another similar effort could be good enough for place gains.