‘The computer went bananas’: error at O’Brien yard removes horses from 2,000 Guineas

The betting market for the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket on 2 May was thrown into confusion on Tuesday when two significant candidates from the Aidan O’Brien stable, Gstaad and Albert Einstein, were taken out of the race, apparently as the result of an administrative error.

The chaos was then compounded later in the day by uncertainty over whether a plan to re-engage both colts if necessary at a cost of £30,000 each might be prohibited by the rules of entry, before the British Horseracing Authority confirmed that supplementary entries would in fact be accepted.

Gstaad, the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar in November, was priced up on Tuesday morning at around 6‑1 for the first Classic of the season, and seen as potentially the Ballydoyle first string for a race the stable has won a record 10 times.

He assumed the role of O’Brien’s No 1 contender after Albert Einstein, the winner of his first two starts as a juvenile in 2025 but unraced beyond May because of injury, finished only sixth of 10 runners on his three‑year‑old debut in a Listed race at the Curragh three days ago.

Despite that reverse, however, and a subsequent suggestion that Albert Einstein might revert to sprinting with the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot as an initial target, the colt was still priced up at 20-1 for the 2,000 Guineas and O’Brien intended to confirm both two-year-olds at the latest declaration stage on Tuesday.

O’Brien told the Press Association on Tuesday morning that both Gstaad and Albert Einstein had been scratched as the result of “a computer error”, adding: “we’re trying to get them back in”.

The trainer expanded on his explanation in a comment to the Racing Post, saying: “There was a blip on the computer. Something happened, the computer went bananas and took out a couple of horses that weren’t meant to be taken out.

“The people here in the office were trying to take the horses out of the Dante, but the Guineas flashed up instead and the button was pressed. They were pressing for the Dante, but as they were pressing, the Guineas flashed up.”

In the initial aftermath of the declaration stage on Tuesday, Bow Echo and Publish, first and second respectively in the Ascendant Stakes at Haydock Park in September, moved to the head of the market as 4-1 joint-favourites, from odds of around 6-1 overnight. Andrew Balding’s Gewan, who beat Gstaad by three-quarters of a length in the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket in October, also shortened in the betting, from 10-1 to around 6-1.

Several bookmakers, including Paddy Power, Ladbrokes and Coral, subsequently re-introduced Gstaad and Albert Einstein to the Classic betting, following a statement from O’Brien that “we will supplement them come the time if that’s what the lads [the colts’ owners in the Coolmore Stud Syndicate] decide to do”.

Paddy Power, however, again removed both colts from their list half an hour later “subject to further clarification from the racing authorities”, since the BHA’s rules on scratchings state that once a scratching notice has been issued,

Soon afterwards, however, the BHA confirmed that it would accept supplementary entries for Gstaad and Albert Einstein both reintroduced later at around 6-1 and around 20-1 respectively.