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IT IS the first Classic weekend of the season, which some racing folk say comes far too early in the campaign for the three-year-old crop to show their true talents, but that is the very reason the 1,000 Guineas and 2,000 Guineas are run at Newmarket this weekend.

As these thoroughbreds, in their second season, mature and strengthen so they are stepped up in trip and despite the argument that many will stay at a mile, or indeed drop back to sprint distances, it remains a tried and tested set-up.

I fancy that the red hot favourite, NATIVE TRAIL, will be desperately hard to beat in the 2,000 on the Saturday (3.40) over a course and distance he has handled superbly well. Many of the 15 colts set to line up won’t be able to handle the dip and become unbalanced, but this outstanding son of Oasis Dream rolled through his trial race, the Craven Stakes, superbly well to stamp his authority even further on the market and that despite looking far from 100 per cent fit.