Aidan O'Brien 'very happy' as €2.3 million colt shoots towards top of 2,000 Guineas market with smart debut win

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Ballydoyle colt Abraham Lincoln looks to be a star in the making after dispatching his rivals with ease to win on his debut in the 6f maiden. 

Bought for €2.3 million at the Arqana Deauville sale in August, the Wootton Bassett juvenile was well backed and stretched away impressively under Ryan Moore to win from stablemate and fellow debutant Haffner, earning himself a quote of 20-1 with Paddy Power for next year's 2,000 Guineas.

Abraham Lincoln has a host of top-class entries this season to support his hefty price tag, with the Phoenix Stakes, Golden Fleece Stakes and National Stakes among the Group 1 options. 

He also holds an entry in the Group 2 Railway Stakes next month, but a step up in trip looks more likely according to Aidan O'Brien. 

"You'd have to be very happy with him," O'Brien told Racing TV. "He's a lovely horse but he's still very green. He hadn't been asked a lot at home but he was working classily. 

"This fella would be very comfortable going up to seven [furlongs] and up to a mile. Ryan said when he asked him to go he got there very quickly and ended up being there much earlier than he wanted. He said he was only looking and very green, but I'd say he's probably classy. 

Ryan Moore pats Abraham Lincoln after success at the CurraghCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

"He'd be very comfortable going up to a race like the Tyros or the Futurity, those types of races. It's nice to have a run into him now, so you'd be very happy really." 

O'Brien has won nine of the last ten runnings of the Group 2 Futurity Stakes, most recently with subsequent Prix du Jockey Club star Constitution River. While he has had fewer recent winners of the Tyros, winning just one of the last four runnings, his past winners have included top-class individuals such as Gleneagles, Churchill and Anthony Van Dyck. 

Read more:

Ryan Moore picks his ride as Benvenuto Cellini and Christmas Day set to clash again in Irish Derby 

'She's taken a big step forward' - Richard Spencer eyes £275,000 contest with improving homebred juvenile 

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