Rain drives Parish Hall out of the 2,000 Guineas

JOSEPH O’BRIEN: Rides his father Aidan’s hot favourite for the Newmarket Classic, Camelot (Getty Images)

Parish Hall, who last autumn won the top juvenile race run over the course, has dropped out of the Qipco 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket tomorrow. The Dewhurst Stakes winner was a conspicuous but unsurprising absentee when 18 declarations were made yesterday for the season's first Classic.

The colt's trainer, Jim Bolger, had warned he might not line up on soft ground, and the going on the Rowley Mile had deteriorated after further rain overnight. Conditions are now expected to remain largely dry until tomorrow, however.

Another Irish challenger, Camelot, remains hot favourite, with his young rider unsure if the going might blunt his brilliance. "I have to have a question mark over the ground," Joseph O'Brien said. "He's a very good-moving horse and won both starts last year on good ground. The ground at the weekend is an unknown. We won't know until he goes and does it. But he seems to have wintered well."

The trainer, his father Aidan, also saddles Power, the mount of Ryan Moore. The stable's Kentucky Derby contender, Daddy Long Legs, meanwhile, drew the dreaded rails gate at Churchill Downs yesterday.