Hayes has upset brewing Serious contender: David Hayes' filly Gregors (above) had the upper hand in her last run against Guelph. David Hayes has trained the winners of two of the past seven runnings of the group 1 Thousand Guineas, so he knows what sort of filly is needed to win. In the 2013 edition to be run at Caulfield on Wednesday, his contender Gregers ticks many of the boxes required for victory. But Hayes is hoping it's a matter of check, check, check rather than checkmate, in the form of red-hot race favourite Guelph. "My filly is top class but she just might be taking on a champion," said Hayes of the Peter Snowden-trained, Darley-owned Guelph, who is building an imposing record, with four wins from her last five starts and three of those at group 1 level. I think Guelph is fantastic and I wish she wasn't running, but the opportunity is there to win a group 1 and I believe Gregers has the ability to win it, so we're taking up the challenge. Hayes' previous two winners, Miss Finland ($1.90) and Irish Lights ($3.50), both started favourite in their Guineas wins, but the overwhelming support for Guelph sees her quoted at $1.40 with most betting operators. Miss Finland went in as a Golden Slipper winner and had won three of her four lead-up runs in group company; Gregers, an $11 chance, boasts form just as good, if not better than Irish Lights. Gregers, who has won four of her six starts including the group 2 Guineas Prelude at her last run, has met Guelph on only one occasion and holds the upper hand. She finished fourth at just her second start in this year's Blue Diamond Stakes, with race favourite Guelph running ninth. The filly was somewhat unlucky, but Hayes is taking as much confidence as he can from the one-nil advantage his filly holds. My filly beat Guelph home in the Diamond at their only meeting and pulled up shin sore afterwards, so that would be the optimistic view of taking her on. Gregers has had a traditional Melbourne lead-up, winning twice at Moonee Valley and then running a strong fifth in the group 2 Danehill Stakes at Flemington against the males, before her Prelude win. On the other hand, Guelph has stayed in Sydney where she failed narrowly first up, before winning the group 2 Tea Rose and group 1 Flight Stakes. In the latter, she sat wide before scoring with authority, but Hayes is not convinced that she has been beating better fillies than those in Melbourne. "The horse that ran second to Guelph in the Flight Stakes had only run fourth in a listed race in Adelaide at her previous start," Hayes said. Guelph obviously beat those fillies very well, but it might be that the Sydney form is not as strong as many people think. According to her trainer, Gregers, who will be ridden by stable rider Chad Schofield, has had the perfect preparation for the Guineas and after drawing ideally in barrier two, Hayes believes she will be very competitive. "You never know what can happen in a race and there is always the chance of [Guelph] getting into trouble," Hayes said. Chad should be able to put her [Gregers] into a nice position just behind the speed, so we might get a dream run and be able to beat her. You never know, we might be the better filly. A win against the odds would also provide a contrast to Hayes' previous two Guineas wins. While Miss Finland and Irish Lights were owned by breeding giants Arrowfield and Coolmore respectively, Gregers has more modest origins. Hayes part-owned and trained Gregers' dam Satnav who was the same age as Miss Finland. Satnav was no match for her illustrious stablemate but won two races including one at Moonee Valley and Hayes and the partnership that raced her decided to retain her for her stud career with Gregers, a daughter of Commands, being her third foal.