2000 Guineas : A statistical odyssey

Our Ian Brindle trawls through the annals of time as he takes a look at the statistics that have accompanied the 2,000 Guineas.

Trainers The most successful of the current training roster are Aidan O'Brien and Sir Michael Stoute who have won the race five times. King Of Kings was the first O'Brien incumbent to win in 1998 and this was followed by Rock Of Gibraltar (2002), Footstepsinthesand (2005), George Washington (2006) and Henrythenavigator (2008) Sir Michael Stoute has also reached that figure though over a much longer time span with Shaded (1985), Doyoun (1988),Entrepreneur (1997), King's Best (2000) and Golan (2001) Richard Hannon won with his first ever runner in the mile showpiece with Mons Fils (1973) and has subsequently scored with Don't Forget Me (1987) and Tirol (1990) Henry Cecil has saddled two winners in Bolkonski (1975) and Wollow (1976) and both were ridden by Gianfranco Dettori, the father of Frankie. Cecil was assistant trainer to his stepfather, Cecil Boyd-Rochefort, who sent out Pall Mall (1958) to victory. All have some way to go to eclipse John Scott, who was responsible for seven winners between 1842 to 1862. Overseas raiders Vincent O'Brien unleashed greats such as Sir Ivor (1968) and Nijinsky (1970) but the Irish have enjoyed their most prolific period of dominance during the last decade with Aidan O'Brien, John Oxx and Dermot Weld all visiting the famous winners enclosure. Though the sample size has been smaller, the French have a historically fair record with Makfi, the latest to oblige in 2010 for Mikel Delzangles. Andre Fabre won the race twice in the 1990's with Zafonic (1993) and Pennekamp (1995) while Alec Head, the father of Freddie, was victorious with Taboun in 1959. Jockeys With Kieren Fallon absent through suspension - Johnny Murtagh and Frankie Dettori are the most successful pilots to be taking their chances on Saturday. Murtagh rode both his winners for Aidan O'Brien whilst Dettori was aboard Mark Of Esteem (1995) and Island Sands (1999) for Godolphin. The recently retired Michael Kinane rode four winners during his time and Lester Piggott claimed five though both pale into relative insignificance compared to Jem Robinson's tally as he won nine times during 1825-1848. Tom Queally, who is set to partner Frankel, has never had a ride in the race. Owners Sue Magnier is the most successful modern day owner having owned six winners including those in partnership. The Khalid Abdullah operation have taken three renewals with Dancing Brave (1986) and Zafonic (1993) joined by Known Fact (1980) who was awarded the race uipon disqualification of Nureyev. Betting Recent renewals have not been especially kind to favourite backers with only two obliging inside the last twenty years. Zafonic (5-6f) taking the race in 1993 before George Washington (6-4f) obliged in 2006. Zafonic was the last odds on chance to be successful in the Guineas although Doyoun (4-5), Shadeed (4-5) and Nijinsky (4-7) had all managed to land the odds in their respective races. The shortest priced winner was St Frusquin (1896) at 12-100 whilst Rockavon (1961) was the longest priced winner at 66-1. Makfi's SP of 33-1 joined Cockney Rebel (25-1) and Henrythenavigator (11-1) and Island Sands (10-1) as recent winners at double figure odds. Time figure Mister Baileys holds the record for the fastest winning time when he stopped the clock at 1:35.08 in 1994. This lowered the figure of 1:35.32 that had been posted by Zafonic just twelve months earlier. Despite the impressive nature of the performance, Dancing Brave's figure of 1:40.00 was one of the slowest of the modern era. Cockney Rebel (1:35.28) and Sea The Stars (1:35.88) were the only horses in the last decade to dip below the 1:36.00 mark. Trials performances Native Khan won the Craven Stakes this year and while this was once considered the premier trial for this contest during the 1980's to the effort - Tirol (1990) was the last horse to complete the double. In recent years, winners of this prize have a poor conversion rate though King's Best (2000) placed second and went on to go one better. Frankel won the Dewhurst Stakes in 2010. Previous winners to graduate the next year include Nijinsky (1969), El Gran Senor (1983) and Pennekamp (1994) with Rock Of Gibraltar (2001) the last to take that route. Pathfork won the Vincent O'Brien National Stakes in 2010 and this has been a fair yardstick as to the quality of the Irish raiders in the past. Refuse To Bend (2002) and George Washington (2005) went on to Newmarket glory with Hawk Wing (2001) and New Approach (2007) finishing as runners up. Casamento won last year's Racing Post Trophy with Master Of Hounds and Native Khan behind. The last winner of the Doncaster showpiece to score at Newmarket was High Top (1971/2) and from a statistical perspective, runners in that contest have performed far better at Epsom with three subsequent Derby winners inside the last decade.