Time for the talking to stop as Santa Barbara bids to give O'Brien seventh win

Qipco 1000 Guineas Stakes (Group 1) | 3yo fillies | 1m | ITV/RTV

The dam burst its banks on March 24. Santa Barbara had been well-touted before then but that was the day Aidan O'Brien publicly shared his growing adulation for the once-raced daughter of Camelot and it did not take punters long to latch on.

She started that day as a 10-1 chance for the Qipco 1,000 Guineas but ended it at 4-1. By the end of the same week she was more like a 2-1 favourite and after more superlatives from the master of Ballydoyle this week, Santa Barbara is a scorching 7-4 favourite to hand O'Brien his seventh win in the race and fifth win in the last six runnings.

"She always looked very special last year and of all the two-year-old fillies she was always at the top of the pecking order," said O'Brien.

Santa Barbara: the well-backed favourite for the 1,000 GuineasCredit: Patrick McCann

"She only had the one run but on her homework she was always very impressive and very exceptional."

Named after a city on the central California coast with Spanish colonial heritage, Santa Barbara will have to overcome inexperience having raced only in a Curragh maiden last September but O'Brien seems confident class will ultimately out.

"I suppose she’s a very strong-traveller through her work and through a race and she’s a big, powerful filly," he added. "She’s a quick learner at home and she’s very intelligent."

Can Santa Barbara live up to her stunning reputation?

By any standard Santa Barbara is a remarkably short-priced favourite for the 1,000 Guineas.

The daughter of Camelot enjoys a reputation far surpassing the sparse detail of a debut maiden victory achieved at the Curragh last September.

Is it all just hype? That's the big question as Aidan O'Brien bids for a 1,000 Guineas hat-trick not achieved since George Lambton did it in 1918.

It requires a massive leap of faith and imagination to convert Santa Barbara's single run into anything remotely like Classic-winning form.

We don't know specific details of her homework. Nor are we privy to the internal world of O'Brien's formidable racing brain, or to the collective mindset of the Coolmore think tank, architects of so many famous triumphs.

The origins of the Santa Barbara gamble lie on the gallops at Ballydoyle. Its evolution has been fuelled by O'Brien's glowing assessments. And, no doubt, a few significant wagers by "the lads" along the way.

O'Brien has never been shy about talking up his best colts. From the very earliest days, with the likes of King Of Kings and Fasliyev, such pronouncements have been part of the job specification.

The synergy between Ballydoyle and Coolmore is at the heart of a bloodstock empire. There is residual value in every soundbite about speed, attitude, temperament. Stamina too, when there's not too much of it.

But it's different with the fillies. There's no real commercial imperative to construct premature superlatives. Their merits are there on the page, in striking black type.

After the Breeders' Cup-winning feats of Iridessa and Order Of Australia, Santa Barbara's dam Senta's Dream is an elite broodmare, if a relatively late-developer in the mothering stakes. Her first five foals were undistinguished.

O'Brien's enthusiasm for the filly comes without baggage or motive. The sense of deeply held conviction is striking.

He has won the race four times in the last five years. The David Wachman-trained 2015 winner Legatissimo also represented the Magnier/Tabor/Smith axis. Minding (2016) and Love (2020) have completed the Guineas/Oaks double. This team knows, better than any other at present, what a Classic-winning filly looks like.
Alan Sweetman

Alcohol Free expected to get the trip

Last year they shared a magical moment together when Kameko triumphed in the 2,000 Guineas, now Andrew Balding and Oisin Murphy bid for more Classic glory with Alcohol Free in the 1,000 Guineas.

An outstanding juvenile, Alcohol Free had the speed to win the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes over six furlongs at this track and made a winning return over seven furlongs in the Fred Darling Stakes at Newbury last month. She now tackles a mile for the first time in the familiar purple silks of owner Jeff Smith, a long-term supporter of the Balding family.

Alcohol Free (Oisin Murphy) wins the Fred Darling on her return to actionCredit: Edward Whitaker

“To have another live Classic contender with Alcohol Free is very exciting," said Balding. "She has come out of her race at Newbury very well. We know she handles the track and, judging by her last run, the trip shouldn’t be a problem. Fingers crossed she can put in another big performance.”

Murphy too does not see the extra furlong being a problem, with the daughter of No Nay Never expected to have improved for her seasonal return.

"She really stuck her neck out at Newbury but she wasn’t fully wound up and Andrew made everyone aware of that," said Murphy. "We certainly felt she would improve for the race and we always felt she was a Guineas filly from last year.”

Life's a beach for Chapple-Hyam yard

It is a massive day for Jane Chapple-Hyam as she prepares to saddle stable star Saffron Beach in the 1,000 Guineas and unsurprisingly her yard was reportedly "buzzing" on the eve of the big race.

Chapple-Hyam houses a stable of 28 in Newmarket but in Saffron Beach she has unearthed a genuine Guineas contender. A Group 3 winner when unbeaten at two, she went down by just three-quarters of a length behind Sacred in the Nell Gwyn and Chapple-Hyam is confident the extra furlong of the Guineas will be right up her street.

"It's a big day for the stable and the staff are buzzing," said the trainer. "I just hope she does what we all believe she can do. She's definitely come on for her first run back and it's all been straightforward."

Saffron Beach (left) chases home Sacred in the Nell Gwyn StakesCredit: Mark Cranham

She added: "The way she races I can definitely see her over ten furlongs in the future and, in a true run race coming out of the Dip, I think she's in the shake-up.

"Adam Kirby loves her and believes in her and we haven't had anything of her greatness."

What they say

Nick Bradley, co-owner of Fev Rover
She was unlucky in the Prix Marcel Boussac where she got bumped twice. She's been away to work a couple of times and her work has been exceptional. She wears cheekpieces for the first time and that should sharpen her up. She may be a ten-furlong filly and if she's there or thereabouts coming up the hill, she'd have a very good chance.

Emily Scott, racing manager for Amo Racing, joint-owners of Lullaby Moon
She won the Redcar Two Year Old Trophy and then got her Group 3 in France. She’s got plenty of speed and, if things go her way, she should have a chance.

William Haggas, trainer of Sacred
It’s in the lap of the gods whether she stays – especially at Newmarket – but she handles the track and she likes the ground. She settled beautifully in the Nell Gwyn and Ryan Moore said he could move whenever he wanted – we hope it’s the same again. She needs a lot of luck to get the trip and not go too early, as she pulled herself up a bit in front. She’s in as good a shape as we could have her.

Sylvester Kirk, trainer of Seattle Rock
There's no pressure and fair play to Jeff Smith for having a go. She was only running on at the end in the Nell Gwyn and the extra furlong will help her. We're looking forward to having a go and it's nice to be in there.

Thady Gosden, co-trainer of Star Of Emaraaty
She ran a respectable race in the Nell Gwyn and has improved from that but if the favourite runs as expected we will all be playing for places. She deserves her place in the line up and could well outrun her odds.

Martyn Meade, trainer of Statement
She's only won over six and a half furlongs but her pedigree and homework suggests she'll get the mile. I hope we can reverse the placings with Alcohol Free and I think that was an ideal prep at Newbury. She's got to go for it.

Ken Condon, trainer of Thunder Beauty
She should enjoy the ground and, off her Moyglare run, I think she can run well. We are hopeful that she has matured well over the winter and that there is more improvement to come with her this season.

Charlie Fellowes, trainer of Vadream
She came from a long way back in the Fred Darling and I thought she ran a really pleasing race under the circumstances. She's going to have to take a big step forward again but we've always thought a huge amount of her. If she does get a mile she will be thereabouts because I've not had a miler as quick as her.

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