Fajjaj and Zaman lead British quest to capture 2,000 Guineas in Cologne

3.55 Cologne33rd Mehl-Mulhens-Rennen – German 2000 Guineas | Group 2 | 1m | SIS

Hugo Palmer, who has won the German 1,000 Guineas for the last two years with Hawksmoor and Unforgetable Filly, breaks new ground with his first runner in the colts' version on Monday.

But Frankie Dettori knows what it takes, having landed the Mehl-Mulhens-Rennen on Frozen Power in 2010, and he will be on board Fajjaj, who finished second in a 1m2f novice event at Windsor last month.

"I'm hopeful more than confident," admitted the colt's trainer Palmer. "I think he got outstayed over a mile and a quarter at Windsor and he's come on an enormous amount from there.

33rd Mehl-Mulhens-Rennen - German 2000 Guineas, card, form and betting

"He needs to find more to win but everything he's done at home suggests he's not going to be outclassed.

"It looks an open race and my feeling from having taken horses to German Guineas before and won and taken horses to German Oaks and been beaten is that their middle-distance horses are always better than their milers."

Charlie Appleby is hopeful for Zaman, and said: "This has been a long-term target once he won the Meydan Classic in Dubai.

"Conditions are going to suit him, he's got a good draw, his preparation has gone very well and if he brings his A game he should be very competitive."

Greenham Stakes fifth Fighting Irish is the third British runner, and trainer Harry Dunlop said: "It's a bit of a fact-finding mission as we're not 100 per cent sure he stays the mile. But he ran a good race in the Greenham and Hey Gaman wasn't that far away from us, and he ran so well in France we thought it was worth a go.

"He was staying on again over six furlongs at Ascot last time. This will be the owners' [Daniel Macauliffe and Anoj Don] first runner in a Classic; he won a Group 2 for them last year, so why not have a go at another one?"

Leading local hope is Kronprinz, who beat several of these rivals when winning the Group 3 Dr Busch Memorial at Krefeld last month.

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