Stellar QIPCO 2000 Guineas Entries Revealed

Andre Fabre, the legendary 29-time French Champion Trainer, this morning stepped up preparations for his QIPCO 2000 Guineas candidate, Persian King, when overseeing his first turf canter of the year, less than two months before the big race takes place at Newmarket’s Rowley Mile Racecourse on Saturday, 4th May.

Persian King was today revealed as part of a top class and highly international entry of 75 colts, including 20 from Ireland and one from Dubai (the Meydan Classic runner-up, Golden Jaguar), for this £500,000 event which heralds the start of the 2019 QIPCO British Champions Series.

A son of Kingman, himself a QIPCO 2000 Guineas runner-up and British Champions Series veteran, Persian King won three times in a four-race juvenile campaign which culminated in victory in the Group 3 Masar Godolphin Autumn Stakes over the full QIPCO
2000 Guineas course and distance on 13th October.

Magna Grecia, on just his second start (and first in Group-company!) really put it up to hot-favourite Persian King in the Group 3 Autumn Stakes at Newmarket and is #TheEyeCatcher from today.

Add this exciting colt to your Racing UK Tracker here ?? https://t.co/qPk71mOPAJ pic.twitter.com/uRSgRfLnu8

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) October 13, 2018

Fabre has won the first British Classic twice before, with Zafonic in 1993 and Pennekamp two years later, and has gone close to a third success twice in the last four years, with Al Wukair (third in 2017) and Territories (third in 2015). He also struck on behalf of Persian King’s part-owners, Ballymore Thoroughbred Ltd, in the QIPCO 1000 Guineas with Miss France in 2014.

All the top two-year-old colts of 2018 are among the entry including the outstanding unbeaten Champion Two-Year-Old, Too Darn Hot, brilliant winner of another Rowley Mile October 13th contest, the Group 1 Darley Dewhurst Stakes, and his John Gosden-trained stablemate, Calyx, not seen since running away with the Group 2 Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot last June.

Other leading British-trained entries are, from the Charlie Appleby yard, both the Group 1 National Stakes hero, Quorto, and the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf scorer, Line Of Duty, plus Martyn Meade’s Group 1 Phoenix Stakes winner and Darley Dewhurst runner-up, Advertise.

Irish training maestro Aidan O’Brien has already landed this showpiece event on a record nine occasions and he has numerous strong contenders among his 16 representatives, headed by Ten Sovereigns, successful in the Group 1 Juddmonte Middle Park Stakes on the Rowley Mile last autumn, and Magna Grecia, who chased home Persian King in the Masar Godolphin Autumn Stakes before landing the Group 1 Futurity Trophy a Doncaster.

Two other interesting contenders are the Hamdan Al Maktoum-owned pair, Jash and Madhmoon. Trained by Simon Crisford, Jash excelled himself on just his third career start to finish only half a length adrift of Ten Sovereigns in the Juddmonte Middle Park while Madhmoon, from Kevin Prendergast’s Irish yard, is unbeaten in two lifetime outings including the Group 2 Champions Juvenile Stakes at Leopardstown.

FULL LIST OF ENTRIES:

Advertise (GB), Albuquerque (IRE), Almania (IRE), Almashriq (USA), Almufti (GB), Antagonize (GB), Anthony Van Dyck (IRE), Arctic Sound (GB), Azano (GB), Beatboxer (USA), Bell Rock (GB), Boitron (FR), Broome (IRE), Calyx (GB), Chairmanoftheboard (IRE), Circus Maximus (IRE), Confiding (GB), Daarik (IRE), Dark Vision (IRE), Deal A Dollar (GB), Dubai Legacy (USA), Duke of Hazzard (FR), Emaraaty Ana (GB), Global Spectrum (GB), Golden Jaguar (USA), Great Scot (GB), Guaranteed (IRE), Headman(GB), Hello Youmzain (FR), Japan (GB), Jash (IRE), Kadar (USA), Kick On (GB), King of Change (GB), Kuwait Currency (USA), Line of Duty (IRE), Lord North (IRE), Madhmoon (IRE), Magic J (USA), Magna Grecia (IRE), Major Reward (IRE), Marie’s Diamond (IRE), Mohaather (GB), Mohawk (IRE), Momkin (IRE), Mount Everest (IRE), Name The Wind (GB), No Nonsense (GB), Norway (IRE), Persian King (IRE), Phoenix of Spain (IRE), Quorto (IRE), Raakib Alhawa (IRE), Royal Marine (IRE), Royal Meeting (IRE), San Andreas (IRE), Sangarius (GB), Set Piece (GB), Shine So Bright (GB), Skardu (GB), Sporting Chance (GB), Sydney Opera House (GB), Ten Sovereigns (IRE), The Irish Rover (IRE), Thrilla In Manila (GB), Too Darn Hot (GB), Tracker Saga (IRE), Urban Icon (GB), U S S Michigan (USA), Van Beethoven (CAN), Victory Command (IRE), Walkinthesand (IRE), Watan (GB), Western Australia (IRE), Zakouski (GB) (75).