Camelot the Guineas king

May 5 2012

Camelot maintained his unbeaten record with a hard-fought victory in the Qipco 2000 Guineas at Newmarket for the Aidan O'Brien team.

Ante-post favourite ever since his brilliant win in the Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster in October, the son of Montjeu lived up to his lofty reputation in the colts' Classic in the hands of the trainer's son Joseph.

The field broke into three groups from the stalls with Camelot (15-8 favourite) towards the rear of the main section, and he weaved his way through the pack before digging deep to get the better of French Fifteen by a neck with Hermival, on the far side of the course, two and a quarter lengths away in third.

Joseph O'Brien said: "He has a lot of class and speed, I always felt I was getting there. He got a bit tired in the last 100 yards on his first run (of the season), but hopefully he will come on for it.

"I didn't get the best run through, I was a long way back, but he was very relaxed and will be much better going a bit further."