Racing: Guineas field a feast of rare talent

It's a long time since New Zealand racing has been so lucky.

Having the likes of Darci Brahma and Dr Green racing here previously would have been unthinkable - they would have been sold overseas as yearlings.

To have the pair facing one as good as Captain Kurt in tomorrow's $100,000 Golan Hawkes Bay Guineas is a scenario that deserves a raceday all of its own.

Add the $1 million Kelt Capital to the mix and the public get a card rarely seen this side of the Tasman.

The Guineas is fascinating because Dr Green, Captain Kurt and Darci Brahma are entirely different.

If you knew exactly how the race was going to be run you'd be halfway to picking the winner - but you don't.

There is no clear leader in the seven-horse field and the potential exists for a muddling pace.

Darci Brahma is almost certainly going to start favourite because he was able to beat the Australian youngsters at group one level.

Dr Green didn't manage that last autumn, but he performed very creditably in fields even stronger than the one Darci Brahma downed in the TJ Smith in early June.

Darci Brahma is not a natural pace horse, finishing his races strongly from the body of the field, so you can get a clear picture of where he will be in running.

Much less clear is where Dr Green and Captain Kurt will be placed. Darci Brahma will be left the most vulnerable of the trio if the field crawls to the home turn and sprints down the straight.

Trainer Brian Jenkins is unconcerned about the opposition's tempo.

"If they walk around, he'll outsprint them home and if they go hard he'll be just as well suited because he likes to be getting along."

Dr Green, despite being fresh, showed none of his juvenile tendencies of wanting to race keenly when he took on the Wanganui Guineas, sitting behind the pace for rider Hayden Tinsley and racing away once through a narrow gap in the home straight.

Captain Kurt's coat looked to be a fair distance away from its best when he paraded fresh from a winter break at Hastings two weeks ago.

He got away with it in a lesser field with a dashing win, but it's a slight concern against this line-up, even if he is improved physically.

Captain Kurt is very smart and cannot be ruled out of contention.

His rider Noel Harris is delighted he has drawn out at No 7.

"This could be a tactical race. I'd much rather he was out where he is than drawn inside. If they muck around with the speed at least you've got options out there."

As impressive as D'Lanach has been, he faces a huge task in one of the best Guineas fields in years.

The verdict: Darci Brahma gets the nod, with Dr Green an extremely tough opponent to beat and Captain Kurt to show once again how underrated he is.