Chaldean and Noble Style head top-class Greenham list

Leading Guineas hopes feature in 16 entries at Newbury.

Both Chaldean and Noble Style figure amongst the entries for what could be a red-hot Watership Down Stud Too Darn Hot Greenham Stakes at Newbury.

Chaldean is the shortest-priced British-trained contender for the Qipco 2000 Guineas having won four of his five outings as a two-year-old and will be putting his Classic credentials to the test in the seven-furlong event.

The Andrew Balding-trained son of Frankel is well accustomed to the Berkshire track having quickly made amends for his defeat on debut at the course when striking at Newbury on his second start. He then racked up three high-class victories in Group contests, culminating with a Dewhurst Stakes triumph at Newmarket in the autumn.

“It’s going to be good to see him back and hopefully the forecast is good for the weekend and it will be dry,” said Juddmonte’s Barry Mahon.

“Andrew and the team are very happy and his work has been good. He’s just about ready to go and as long as he runs a nice race on Saturday, that will hopefully lead us on to one of the Classics.

“It looks like it’s going to be a good race. There’s no one missing apart from the two Ballydoyle horses and it’s going to be a top-class renewal.”

Noble Style meanwhile went unbeaten in three starts during his juvenile campaign which was curtailed after a taking success in the Gimcrack at York.

It will be the first time the son of Kingman has raced beyond six furlongs, but trainer Charlie Appleby is hopeful the outing will provide him with plenty of clues ahead of a potential Guineas bid on May 6.

“We are going into the race completely open-minded regarding his trip,” the Moulton Paddocks handler told www.godolphin.com.

Gimcrack winner Noble Style is to tackle seven furlongs for the first time in the Watership Down Stud Too Darn Hot Greenham Stakes at Newbury as a trial for what trainer Charlie Appleby hopes will be a crack at the 2000 Guineas
Gimcrack winner Noble Style is to tackle seven furlongs for the first time in the Watership Down Stud Too Darn Hot Greenham Stakes at Newbury as a trial for what trainer Charlie Appleby hopes will be a crack at the 2000 Guineas (Mike Egerton/PA)

“This is the first time he has gone beyond six furlongs. He shows a lot of natural pace and stepping up to the mile of a Guineas could be a question mark.

“It will be his first time at seven furlongs, and after the dust settles later, we will make the call on whether it will be the English or the French Guineas, or whether he drops back in distance for the Commonwealth at Royal Ascot.”

There is a total of 16 entries for the Group Three contest with the Horris Hill one, two, three – Knight, Grey’s Monument and Ancestral Land – all in the mix, while also bringing course form to the table is Roger Varian’s Charyn, who was third to stablemate Sakheer in the Mill Reef before going on to taste Group Two glory in France in his final outing last term.

Other notable contenders include the Amo Racing-owned Indestructible, who could make his first appearance for Karl Burke, Richard Fahey’s Royal Ascot scorer The Ridler and John and Thady Gosden’s Theoryofeverything, who created a deep impression when winning on debut at Doncaster.

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