McBride is full of Classic pride

Sir Michael Stoute has more than 170 horses and apparently none of them are good enough or fit enough to run in either of the StanJames.com-sponsored Guineas' this weekend.

Yet just up the road from Stoute's powerful Newmarket stable, Charlie McBride has only eight horses in his care - and two of them will participate in the Classics.

McBride snapped up Jamie Spencer for 2,000 Guineas outsider Audacity Of Hope this morning but the trainer feels that his promising filly Blue Maiden will give the jockey a thrill in Sunday's 1,000 Guineas.

Music Show, the 6-1 second favourite with the sponsors, beat Blue Maiden half a length into second in the Group 3 Nell Gwyn Stakes over seven furlongs at Newmarket two weeks ago. But the bookies make the daughter of Medicean a 25-1 shot. The Newmarket trainer said: "I'm delighted to get someone of Jamie's quality riding for me. He'll come down and sit on Audacity Of Hope tomorrow morning.

"He's entitled to take his chance, he's a nice horse and he should be suited by the pace of the race. He's really only shown his true level of ability once or twice I think, he never gets races run to suit and I'll be over the moon if he is in the first four. But I'll be disappointed if the filly isn't in the first four. If she was trained by a bigger stable, she'd be half her price!"

Kieren Fallon is looking forward to renewing his association with Aidan O'Brien ahead of his ride on Viscount Nelson in the 2,000 Guineas. Fallon has not partnered an O'Brien-trained runner since Dylan Thomas won the 2007 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. "It's a jockey's dream to ride for Aidan O'Brien," said Fallon.