Trainer Aidan O'Brien wins 2,000 Guineas for 8th time

NEWMARKET, England (AP) Irish trainer Aidan O'Brien won the 2,000 Guineas for a record eighth time when race favorite Churchill powered through for victory by a length in the first British horse-racing classic of 2017 on Saturday.

Setting out at odds of 6-4, Churchill settled just off a pair of early leaders - including stablemate Lancaster Bomber - down the long straight at Newmarket before pulling clear along the rail and holding off Barney Roy.

Churchill won his last five races in 2016 to be Britain's champion 2-year-old horse.

O'Brien won the mile-long 2,000 Guineas for the first time in 1998 with King Of Kings, and also won it in 2002, '05, '06, `08, '12 and '15.

Winning jockey Ryan Moore was aboard O'Brien's 2015 champion, Gleneagles, too.