Racing: Ryan has Guineas target for Amadeus

The smiles said it all after the Middle Park Stakes here yesterday. The day was autumnal but the trainer Kevin Ryan and jockey Neil Callan were beaming through the gloom, after notching maiden Group One successes with the gutsy colt Amadeus Wolf.

The six-furlong contest has not been won by a subsequent 2,000 Guineas hero since Dr Devious 14 years ago, but the Classic is now the target for Amadeus Wolf, in the lists at around 25-1. "We'll have to give it a go now," said Thirsk-based Ryan. "And this will certainly make the winter a bit shorter."

If the rain-softened ground did not inconvenience the 4-1 winner ("He's a proper horse, does it all so powerfully," said Callan) it was not to the taste of the 2-1 favourite, Ivan Denisovich, who floundered in fourth on one day in his life to forget. But his trainer, Aidan O'Brien, still has a monopoly on the 2,000 Guineas betting, with George Washington and tomorrow's Longchamp contender Horatio Nelson on the front of the grid.

This year's Guineas proved the undoing of much-vaunted Rob Roy, who finished last, but Sir Michael Stoute's colt took the Group Three Joel Stakes to redeem some of his reputation.

Paul Hanagan was taken to hospital for x-rays after being thrown by Maximix in the paddock before the juvenile maiden, while Tony Culhane escaped unscathed after Guest Connections panicked in the stalls before the Middle Park Stakes, before being withdrawn.