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Can any colt better the 2000 Guineas winner Dawn Approach?

Can any colt better the 2000 Guineas winner Dawn Approach at Newmarket

At the end of the 2012 Flat season in Britain and Ireland, BHA handicapper Matthew Tester rated the tremendously impressive Group 1 Goffs Vincent O’Brien Stakes winner Dawn Approach as the best of his generation and also better than any juvenile we witnessed during the previous campaign.

2000 Guineas Winner Dawn Approach

The Jim Bolger-trained son of New Approach carried all before him that season and was unbeaten in all five outings, culminating with his win at the Curragh in which he slammed Designs On Rome by nearly five lengths in the most impressive of fashions.

2000 Guineas Anti-Post Favourite

He was a top priced 7/1 ante-post favourite for the Qipco 2000 Guineas 2013 at Newmarket in May, and a best priced 16/1 second-favourite for the Investec Derby at Epsom in June, behind Aidan O’Brien’s Mars (10/1).

Tester provisionally allocated Dawn Approach an official rating of 121, better than anything achieved by the prvious year’s crop of two-year-old’s and some 7lbs clear of the smart pair Toronado (114) and Dundonnell (113) who finished first and second in a fine race for the Group 2 Champagne Stakes at Doncaster’s Leger fixture.

Newmarket Gallops

Dawn Approach, who featured prominently in Betfair horse racing odds, was sleighted to have one more start that term in the Group 1 Dubai Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket in October where he would have the opportunity to further raise the bar on his tremendous series of performances that campaign.

After beating Canary Row on each of his first two outings, Bolger’s colt then won a listed race at Naas in early-June over six furlong before proving too good for a strong field in the Group 2 Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot a couple of weeks later, beating the subsequent dual Group 2 winner Olympic Glory by three-quarters-of-a-length.

After a three month mid-term break his performance at the Curragh proved beyond doubt that he remained the horse they all had to beat that term, and possibly next as well.

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Dawn Approach went on to win the Dubai Dewhurst Stakes Group 1 at Newmarket in October 2012. He followed this with 2 more group 1 wins in 2013 when he was finally retired to stud after losing his last 3 races.

So how do the top colts since Dawn Approach measure up to his achievements? Lets take a look.....

2000 Guineas Winners Since 2013

The 2000 Guineas remains one of the most prestigious races in the British racing calendar, serving as the first Classic of the season and often providing early indications of that year's leading three-year-old colts.

Dawn Approach's dominant 5-length victory in 2013 set a high standard, and his performance still stands out as one of the most impressive in recent memory.

In the years since Dawn Approach's win, we've seen a mix of decisive victories and closer finishes. Some notable recent winners include:

1. Galileo Gold (2016): Trained by Hugo Palmer, he won by 1.5 lengths in a strong field.

2. Churchill (2017): Aidan O'Brien's colt won comfortably by a length, following up on his champion two-year-old season.

3. Saxon Warrior (2018): Another O'Brien trainee, he won impressively before going on to compete at longer distances.

4. Kameko (2020): Andrew Balding's colt set a new course record when winning the race, which was run in June due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

5. Poetic Flare (2021): Interestingly, this colt was trained by Jim Bolger, the same trainer as Dawn Approach, and is actually out of a mare sired by Dawn Approach. He won in a tight finish, showcasing both speed and tenacity.

6. Coroebus (2022): Godolphin's colt, trained by Charlie Appleby, won impressively and went on to further success.

Comparing these winners to Dawn Approach, it's clear that while all were top-class performers, few have matched the sheer dominance of his 5-length victory. Dawn Approach's combination of an unbeaten juvenile campaign and a dominant Classic win is relatively rare.

However, it's worth noting that the modern era has seen an increasing trend towards specialization, with some top milers avoiding stretching out to longer distances.

This has led to some incredibly high-quality renewals of the 2000 Guineas, with winners often going on to dominate the mile division rather than necessarily targeting the Epsom Derby as Dawn Approach did.

The race continues to be a key target for the world's top trainers and owners, with operations like Coolmore (Aidan O'Brien) and Godolphin frequently having strong contenders. The international aspect of the race has also grown, with more interest from overseas connections.

In terms of ratings, while Dawn Approach's juvenile mark of 121 was exceptional, we have seen other highly-rated two-year-olds in recent years.

However, translating that juvenile form into Classic success remains a challenge, highlighting the achievement of horses like Dawn Approach who maintain their dominance from two to three years old.