O’Brien targets big guns at Kingman in 2000 Guineas

Aidan O’Brien is set to throw down a strong challenge to John Gosden and Kingman by running both Australia and War Command in the Qipco 2000 Guineas at Newmarket on Saturday.

Australia had been winter favourite for the Classic but lost that position when Kingman reappeared with a brilliant performance in the Greenham Stakes at Newbury earlier this month.

The vibes coming out of Ballydoyle regarding the son of Galileo and Ouija Board, two of the best racehorses of modern times, have been strong for some time, and O’Brien is also likely to call on Dewhurst winner War Command, who had been a possible for the French equivalent a week later. Others for O’Brien are Giovanni Boldini and Oklahoma City after a total of 17 contenders stood their ground.