Nick Wilby believes Canford Cliffs has a great chance in the 2000 Guineas.
As short as 4/1 for the 2000 Guineas almost a year before the Classic, Canford Cliffs made his debut with a lofty reputation as a £50,000 son of Tagula.
An emphatic winner of his first ever racecourse appearance, Richard Hannon’s juvenile superstar became one of the most impressive Royal Ascot winners of all time with a scintillating victory in the Coventry Stakes, slamming his rivals by six lengths leading jockey Richard Hughes to describe the colt as "by far" the best he´s ridden.
Antepost punters latched onto the superstar and expected his next race, the Group 1 Prix Morny, to be a procession for the nation’s leading juvenile. However, all did not go to plan and Canford Cliffs could only manage second behind the highly-regarded Arcano and French filly Special Duty. When asked to quicken, Hannon’s star could muster nothing like the turn of foot he found at Ascot and it was a serious wake up call for those who had predicted 2000 Guineas success for the horse.
However, the form of the race has since been franked, with Special Duty a short priced favourite for the 1000 Guineas and with Arcano at the head of the betting for the 2000 Guineas, it was clearly not as poor a Prix Morny as many had originally suspected.
Canford Cliffs also raced on the stands’ rail in France, a section of the racecourse that was deemed slower than anywhere else on the track and he appears to be the sort of horse who relishes a good surface, something he will more than likely experience at Newmarket in May.
Suspicions over his ability to get one mile have been heavily debated and while his trainer and his jockey are adamant it will be no problem, if the ground were to come up anything other than good at HQ, his chance would be seriously dented.
However, it is hard to forget his performance at Royal Ascot and it is hard to ignore the high esteem his legendary trainer and jockey hold him in. I will remind punters of Henrythenavigator, the 2008 winner of the 2000 Guineas. After landing the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot he was subsequently put in his place on heavy ground by the mighty New Approach, only to disappear off the juvenile scene. He returned at to Newmarket and edged out his rival in an absolute thriller after many people had written off the Ballydoyle superstar. I will be hoping Canford Cliffs can do a similar thing at HQ.
Nick Wilby's advice - Back Canford Cliffs for the 2000 Guineas at 12/1 (Sportingbet)