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Henrythenavigator wins Guineas grapple with New Approach In Saturday's 200th running of the Two Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1), Mrs. John Magnier's HENRYTHENAVIGATOR (Kingmambo) collared 11-8 favorite New Approach (Galileo [Ire]) with about one furlong to go, and after a royal tussle, just subdued the hitherto unbeaten champion by a nose. The pair served up a true clash of the global titans, with Henrythenavigator representing Coolmore and New Approach sporting the colors of Princess Haya, the wife of Sheikh Mohammed. Both colts drew well clear of the remainder of the field as they dueled to the finish on the hallowed Rowley Mile at Newmarket, and neither one gave an inch. New Approach broke sharply and soon took command, while the 11-1 Henrythenavigator settled near the rear of the field in the opening stages. The favorite's remorseless gallop had 13 of his rivals toiling, except for Henrythenavigator, who was artfully maneuvering into a contending position with Johnny Murtagh. As New Approach ratcheted up the tempo and opened up by two lengths, Henrythenavigator burst through between horses. The Aidan O'Brien trainee quickly closed in, drew alongside New Approach and thrust his head in front. The pacesetter rose to the challenge and fought back, but Henrythenavigator did just enough to prevail by a whisker in a final time of 1:39 on the good ground. "Aidan told me to drop him in and reserve his energy early on," Murtagh told PA Sport. "At the furlong marker I thought I was going to win, and while the second battled, my horse is a class horse." "With it being his first run (of the season), we were a little worried as the horses have been coming on from their first runs, but he has always been an exceptional horse at home," said O'Brien, who scored his fifth victory in this English classic. "Johnny said he got tired towards the end, as most of our horses have on their first runs. "His speed carried him into the race, and Johnny rode him like he couldn't get beat," O'Brien added. "It was a strong-run mile, and when he was able to get tired and still win, you would have to be very impressed." In an unfortunate postscript for Murtagh, he was ruled to have used his whip too many times without giving Henrythenavigator time to respond. Accordingly, the jockey was suspended for two days and will sit out on May 18 and 19. It was another four lengths back to 100-1 shot Stubbs Art (Hawk Wing), followed by the 4-1 Raven's Pass (Elusive Quality) in fourth. Godolphin's colorbearer, Ibn Khaldun (Dubai Destination), wound up a disappointing 10th as the 7-2 second choice. Henrythenavigator now boasts a 5-3-1-1 mark. Last season, he captured the Coventry S. (Eng-G2) at Royal Ascot, but failed to run up to his best in his final two juvenile outings on soft ground. Henrythenavigator finished second in the Phoenix S. (Ire-G1) to the filly Saoirse Abu (Mr. Greeley) and third to New Approach in the Futurity S. (Ire-G2). Bred by Western Bloodstock, Henrythenavigator is out of Irish highweight Sequoyah (Ire) (Sadler's Wells). He is a full brother to Irish Group 3 winner Queen Cleopatra, who placed in both the Irish One Thousand Guineas (Ire-G1) and Prix de Diane (Fr-G1). Sequoyah is herself a full sister to Listen, the Irish highweight juvenile filly of 2007. This is the family of Irish Two Thousand Guineas (Ire-G1) hero and highweight Saffron Walden (Sadler's Wells), German highweight Dolphin Street (Bluebird) and Canadian Grade 1 queen Insight (Fr) (Sadler's Wells). Henrythenavigator and New Approach are likely to meet again in the May 24 Irish Two Thousand Guineas at the Curragh.
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