Gosden lines up clean sweep at the Guineas

The national hunt racing season ended at Punchestown on Saturday, marking the start of the English summer flat racing season. Racing fans don’t have much of a breather before the next wave of top level racing hits them, with the 2,000 Guineas scheduled to be run on the 3rd of May.

With the flat racing season just getting underway, the racing media is abuzz with suggestions that 2008 may mark the first occasion that a trainer claims a clean sweep of the Classics. The man marked to achieve this feat is John Gosden.

Gosden’s win at the Derby trial at Sandown on Saturday fuelled speculation that he may be on the verge of making history. While Gosden himself refuses to take this speculation seriously, its hard to ignore the fact that he is set to field race favourite in both the 2008 2,000 Guineas and 2008 1,000 Guineas.

His favourite for the 2008 2,000 Guineas is particularly compelling, with Raven’s Pass priced at 7/2 by William Hill to take the first major race of the season.

Gosden has claimed that the hype surrounding his runners this season is “hyperbole and nonsense”. Nevertheless there will be few smart punters who don’t have money on Gosden’s horses at the Guineas this year.