BY RUDDY ALLEN

OBSERVER STAFF REPORTER

TRAINER Anthony ‘Baba’ Nunes seems to hold the better hand as the season’s first Classic races – the 1000 Guineas (fillies) and 2000 Guineas (colts and geldings) – get closer. The races will be run over the Easter weekend, April 4 and 6, respectively.

The in-form trainer has top runners Come Dance With Me and Berranca in the 1000 Guineas and Alacrann and Siempre Bueno in the 2000 Guineas. Both races will be run over a mile (1,600 metres).

Nunes’ only victory in the 1000 Guineas was in 2013 when Dick Cardenas piloted Select A Book to victory for owners J Goode, Elias Haloute and Stephen Narinesingh. Nunes believes that either Come Dance With Me or Berranca can be winner number two in the native-bred three-year-old filly Grade One event.

The Elias Haloute-owned Berranca, a three-year-old chestnut filly by Adore The Gold -Charity Dance has raced three times with two victories (including the Thornbird stakes) and a third-place finish with earnings of $1,036,950.

Come Dance With Me (Blue Pepsi Lodge – Soca dancer), who is owned by Stephen Narinesingh, has so far won two races and finished third three times from five starts with earnings of $2,801,250.

“Berranca is doing very well. She won the trial and she came out of it very well and she is moving forward nicely. She has proven herself and will definitely get the distance,” he said.

However, Nunes says the one mile of the Guineas is a worrying factor as far as Come Dance With Me is concerned.

“As everybody saw, Come Dance With Me needed that run last week. She came out of that prep run well and so I expect her to be fitter and better prepared going into the 1,000.

“Come Dance With Me has an excellent chance of winning the race. She will be running against her own sex for the first time but the question mark on her is if she can stay the mile or not. She has the class but the distance is in question,” Nunes told the Complete Racing Guide.

Nunes boasts two victories in the 2000 Guineas, in 2008 with Royal Image (Shane Ellis) and Uncle Donny (Dick Cardenas) in 2012.

“We gave Alacrann some time off as we thought that he had a tough two-year-old campaign, hence his return last week in an Overnight Allowance and he ran very well. At the moment he is doing well and will be ready for the contest,” Nunes noted.

“Siempre Bueno was very impressive when winning the Prince Consort Stakes and will surely get a mile comfortably. It will be a very competitive race but I expect him to do well,” Nunes ended.