Brittain planning twin assault
Clive Brittain has confirmed that he plans to be at least double-handed in the UltimatePoker.com 2000 Guineas on April 30.
The master of Carlburg Stables, who won the race with Mystiko in 1991, intends to send last year’s Gimcrack scorer Tony James and Party Boss, the winner of six straight races on the all-weather.
Brittain, as has been his way throughout an illustrious training career that has spanned over 30 years, is optimistic about the chances of both horses.
However, he is not flagging up one as higher than the other in the pecking order.
Party Boss, as low as 25-1 in the Guineas betting, has proved a remarkable improver on the all-weather over the winter and spring and most recently won by three lengths in a mile Listed race at Lingfield on April 9.
But Brittain revealed he had to go down a slightly unusual route to get the Silver Patriach colt’s racing career up and running.
He said: “Party Boss always looked as if he could be a nice horse but was so lazy and laid back. It took a sexual act, almost, to get him interested.
“I kept him behind the fillies, close enough to look but not to touch. What happened, then, was he suddenly started to take the bit up, which you couldn’t make him do.”
Tony James fell away last term after taking the Gimcrack at York and continued to disappoint in Dubai, but a better performance when fourth in the Free Handicap at Newmarket last Wednesday has restored Brittain’s believe in the son of Xaar.
He said: “He ran two very poor races at the back-end of last year and then ran two very poor races in Dubai, where he hated the sand. So the idea of going for the Free Handicap was to regenerate his interest.
“He was not fully tuned up and the race will bring him on. To run as well as he did with 9st 7lb on his back, giving 11lb to the winner, was no mean feat.”
Brittain also refused to rule out the possibility of saddling Craven Stakes third Kandidate in the Guineas.
He said: “I’m leaving Kandidate in at this stage, because the week before the Guineas, horses start taking a walk and you never know. I’ve always been one to exploit the ‘never knows’!”
Dual Coronation Cup victor Warrsan is on course to run during the Guineas meeting in the Group Two Jockey Club Stakes.
Brittain said: “Warrsan will be out tomorrow morning, doing a bit more serious work. But he’s in great form.”
As for his other stable star Var, Brittain is eyeing up a daring bid to emulate the feat of Choisir at Royal Ascot two years ago.
He said: “Var won’t appear, almost certainly, until (Royal Ascot at) York when we may, if the owner is in agreement, have a crack at the double – the King’s Stand and the Golden Jubilee.”
Brittain added, however, that he has made a “tentative entry” in the Temple Stakes at Sandown for his six-year-old Prix de l’Abbaye hero.
