Coolmore see another juvenile champion humbled as William Buick's winter warmer becomes an unconventional Guineas hero

Nobody travelling home from Cheltenham on the final Saturday of January could have had any idea Festival Trials day was also 2,000 Guineas trial night. 

Notable Speech was at that stage unconsidered for the Newmarket Classic, for the very good reason almost no-one had heard of him. Three months had passed since City Of Troy became an odds-on favourite for the Guineas with his dominant success in the Dewhurst Stakes. On the evening of January 27, Notable Speech was simply an unraced son of Dubawi making his belated racecourse debut in a Kempton maiden. At just after 6pm he began a journey towards something truly extraordinary.

Had it not been for Notable Speech, and in particular a request from Charlie Appleby, William Buick would have delayed having his first British mounts of the year until February. On Friday, January 26, he had been in action at Meydan, completing a treble in the Godolphin blue that was highlighted by his first Group 1 victory of the year. It was much colder at Kempton and the prize-money was nowhere near so lavish but one of the two horses he was set to ride that night was far superior to any of those he had just ridden at Meydan.