Jim Bolger trained Dawn Approach was ridden by Kevin Manning to a massive five lengths triumph in the Qipco 2000 Guineas Stakes at Newmarket. The ‘Dawn’ brightened the spirits of the Godolphin Stables which was at a low over the last couple of weeks. The race appeared to be a contest between Richard Hannon trained Tornado and Dawn Approach on paper but that was not to be as the ‘Dawn’ vanquished the Guineas field to maintain its record clean with seven wins from as many starts.

Glory Awaits called the shots early, away from the pack, while Leitir Mor showed the way to the rest with Dawn Approach and Tornado tracking the leaders closely. Approaching the last quarter mile, the top two in the field, Dawn Approach and Tornado started to work their way to the front. Richard Huges was busy on Tornado to get him into acceleration but Dawn Approach was never really threatened and with jockey Kevin Manning active on the saddle, powered his way to the front inside the last furlong and left its rivals  cold. Glory Awaits held on impressively to the second place while Tornado was beaten by stable companion Van Der Neer for the third spot close home.

"I didn’t expect him to win by five lengths, but was very impressed and, as you [the press] would say, I am blown away," said the winning trainer Jim Bolger. "He can only improve from here, as he has been very lazy at home and it has not been easy to get the right amount of work into him and be kind at the same time." On being asked if the Derby could be Dawn Approach's next big assignment, Bolger said: "He was very impressive. Sheikh Mohammed agreed we would sleep on it and talk about it in a few days but we wouldn't be ruling anything in or anything out. I would be very happy to go [to the Derby] but we have to see how he comes out of this. He's hardy and I'm sure he'll come out of it well."  

"He’s a very special horse and he’s done it very easily," was how jockey Manning explained. "He travelled very well throughout the race and I actually had to take him back going to the two pole, as I didn’t want to get there too soon. When I asked him to quicken, he picked up and was gone. He’s got a great cruising gear and is very easy to switch off and put wherever you want in a race. He stepped up an extra furlong, which was a huge help and he was very impressive--I always felt from a long way out that I had everything covered."

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