Betway Craven Stakes: runner-by-runner guide and tip

Four of the last five winners of the Craven Stakes have gone onto place in the 2000 Guineas over the same course and distance 16 days later, but 22 years have passed since the last horse landed both races, with Haafhd comfortably landing the two for Barry and Richard Hills in 2004, before signing off his season, and career, by landing a Newmarket hat-trick in taking the Champion Stakes in fine style.

So who might lay down an early Classic marker on the Rowley Mile on Thursday? Below is my predicted finishing order for the Betway-sponsored Group Three, due off at 3.35 on Racing TV.

It is hard to see the Ballydoyle runner finishing out of the frame if he reappears in a similar vein of form to which he signed off his juvenile season.

Beaten on debut over seven furlongs, he then went three from three over a mile, culminating in wins in the Group Two Beresford Stakes and the Group One Futurity Trophy at Doncaster.

The top-rated runner in the race, there is no doubt that is the best form on offer, but the nagging concern is the potential for others to improve past him, this is not usually a race targeted by Aidan O’Brien and he will reportedly come on plenty for this race.

Though his latest win was achieved in heavy conditions, he has winning form on good ground, and connections will be hoping he can go one place better than his dual Group One-winning dam went on her first attempt at the track, where she finished second in the Fillies’ Mile behind her stablemate Rhododendron.

He clearly stays well, so expect Ryan Moore to make use of his stamina near the front end. He may just be the class act in the race.

Avicenna must enter calculations, as the son of Starspangledbanner beat Karl Burke’s Hankelow (5-1 for this race before being declared a non-runner this morning) by a nose at Doncaster when last seen.

Two from two, both of his wins have come over seven furlongs at that track, but given he is out of a Galileo mare, it would be a surprise should he not stay this extra furlong.

He showed signs of greenness last time and can take another step forward, but a concern would be whether he is streetwise enough to land what looks a competitive race on a challenging track.

Nevertheless, the ground will be no issue and he has done nothing wrong in two starts - he very much falls into the ‘could be anything bracket’. 

Another Godolphin-owned runner that could be anything, Hidden Force is two from two but was still over two and a half months away from making his debut when Avicenna was last seen.

A two-time winner on the Kempton all-weather this winter, it was his most recent effort that was most eye-catching, quickening up smartly to win a conditions race over a mile by just under two lengths.

That race was won by Opera Ballo last year and Notable Speech two years ago, so he is clearly held in high-regard by connections, but this race is likely to test his stamina credentials in a way his latest win didn’t, where he recorded a high Finishing Speed Percentage of 110.7%.

He could clearly go very well in the Craven at a track where his trainer has a peerless record, but he is almost favourite, and that is too short on what he has actually achieved so far, with this his first run at Stakes level and first run on turf.

Oxagon was a disappointing last of five in the Futurity Trophy Stakes when last seen, but his fifth of nine in the Dewhurst, just three and a half lengths behind Champion Juvenile Gewan was a career best effort, and he also finished second behind Puerto Rico in the Champagne Stakes.

This return to better ground is likely to suit and he has cheekpieces applied for the first time, but he will need to improve again and one suspects there are others open to more improvement. 

There is no reason why he should not stay a mile however and he is drawn alongside favourite Hidden Force on the far-side in stall one.

From the first-crop of St Mark’s Basilica and out of Juddmonte International heroine Arabian Queen, Andrew Balding’s Venetian Prince re-opposes with Hidden Force, having finished a length and three-quarters behind him at Kempton in February last time.

It is hard to see how he turns the tables on that comfortable winner, who is open to more improvement, but it would not be a total surprise should he run well. He finished sixth in a very strong maiden behind Distant Storm and Constitution River at the July meeting before losing his maiden tag at a similarly galloping seven furlongs at Newbury. He has twice finished second on the all-weather this winter.

Rated 87, he has plenty to find on the figures in his first black-type race of any kind here. Expect to see him campaigned over further than a mile this season too.

A likeable colt who usually gives a solid account of himself, he finished a well-beaten second behind Distant Storm in the Tattersalls Stakes over seven furlongs here in September and he filled that same spot on softer ground in Listed company at Chantilly the following month.

His limitations at this level have, on the face of it, been exposed, and winning this competitive Classic trial may require upwards of 15lb of improvement. Out of a Mastercraftsman mare, this step up in trip does at least look a positive move.