Don't Write Off Arizona

Ian Heitman thinks Aidan O’Brien will have him ready to tackle Pinatubo in the Guineas

- Ian Heitman

The feature Group 1 for two-year-olds run in the UK, the Dewhurst Stakes, has been won by some of the greatest horses in the last 30 years,

going all the way back to Generous in 1990, Zafonic in 1992 and Frankel in 2010.

Frankel’s win in the Dewhurst was his fourth win of his two-year-old campaign. He wasn’t the highest-rated horse that day, Dream Ahead had that honour having won the Middle Park by nine lengths and given a rating of 128.

Pinatubo, like Dream Ahead, had won his previous start by nine lengths before running in the Dewhurst and just as Dream Ahead was rated 128, so was Pinatubo, the highest BHA rating given to a two-year-old. Pinatubo was bidding to extend his unbeaten run to six and was 14lb ahead of the highest-rated horse Wichita who had taken the Group 3 Tattersalls Stakes at Newmarket by seven lengths 16 days earlier and was the main market rival to Pinatubo at 7/2.

Plenty of rain saw the ground at Newmarket be officially soft, the softest conditions Pinatubo had been asked to race on. As well as Wichita in the line-up, there were seven other rivals to Pinatubo who was sent off the 1/3 favourite, only Dawn Approach who won in 2012 as the 30/100 favourite had been shorter in the betting for the Dewhurst since 2006.

Wichita, the mount of Ryan Moore, was one of four in the race for Aidan O’Brien. Arizona, well beaten by Pinatubo when the pair met in Ireland on their most recent start was the second string with Monarch Of Egypt and Year Of The Tiger completing the Ballydoyle quartet.

The home challenge was led by Group 3 Solario winner Positive who looked in good shape and was the 8/1 third favourite. He failed to get involved, held up in the rear, he was well beaten in sixth. He presumably failed to act on the soft ground, the first time he had encountered such conditions.