2000 Guineas

The betting for the QIPCO 2,000 Guineas suggests that Godolphin has a very strong hand for Europe's early Classics, with Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) a solid favourite and Coroebus (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) a clear second pick. However, such strength in depth brings its own complications. The European calendar boasts three principal Guineas races (chronologically, in Great Britain, France and Ireland) and the obvious aspiration when one has the two most likely candidates is to win all three.  It is a tough, albeit not impossible, assignment for one horse alone,...

Kirsten Rausing's Group 2 winner Sandrine (GB) (Bobby's Kitten) will make her 2022 debut in the 1600-metre G1 QIPCO 1000 Guineas at Newmarket on May 1. A winner at first asking over the Kempton all-weather in May of 2021, the daughter of Seychelloise (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) followed up with a score in the G3 Albany S. at Royal Ascot, prior to capturing the G2 Duchess Of Cambridge S. back at HQ in July. Second in the G2 Lowther S. at York on Aug. 19, the consistent filly was third in...

Eight years on from the G1 2000 Guineas success of Dawn Approach (Ire), Jim Bolger's Poetic Flare (Ire) proved every bit as tough and resilient as his sire was dominant when outbattling Master of the Seas (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in a thrilling renewal of the QIPCO-sponsored Newmarket Classic on Saturday. Positioned close enough to the furious tempo set by Naval Crown (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) from the outset, the 16-1 shot was at the fore alongside the eventual runner-up as they reeled in that pacemaker a furlong from home with Lucky...

   Saturday's G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas hosts the customary heavyweights of the previous year's scene, with the likes of Thunder Moon (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}), Wembley (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Van Gogh (American Pharoah), One Ruler (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Lucky Vega (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) all bringing Group 1 form to the table, but in the year that racing lost Sheikh Hamdan could there be a sense of destiny in the inclusion of the unproven 'TDN Rising Star' Mutasaabeq (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire})? As far as visual impressions go, there...

Shadwell Estates's Mutasaabeq (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), who earned 'TDN Rising Star' status with a six-length conditions win at Newmarket's Craven meeting on Apr. 13, is set to be supplemented for the G1 2000 Guineas on Monday. The Guineas takes place at Newmarket on Saturday. "As long as all is well with the horse [Monday] morning, we will supplement him," said Angus Gold, Shadwell's racing manager. "We've been thinking about it. We didn't put him in at the first stage because we thought it might come a bit quick for...

Last year's G1 Middle Park S. winner Supremacy (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) has wintered well, according to trainer Clive Cox, and will stick to sprints for his 3-year-old campaign, with the G1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot his key early season target. Cox said the G3 Pavilion S. at Ascot on Apr. 28 and the G2 Sandy Lane S. at Haydock on May 22 are under consideration as starting points for the colt. "Supremacy will stay at six furlongs, so we're looking at the Pavilion, the normal sprinting route--with possibly the...

Entries were revealed on Wednesday for the G1 Qipco 2000 Guineas and G1 Qipco 1000 Guineas, with 72 colts signed on for the 2000 Guineas on May 1 and 63 fillies for the 1000 the following day. Aidan O'Brien has saddled 10 winners of the first Classic of the season and has 12 entries for the 2000 Guineas, including 2-year-old champion St Mark's Basilica (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) and G2 Vintage S. scorer Battleground (War Front). O'Brien's son Joseph, likewise, has Chantal Regalado-Gonzalez's G1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National S. winner Thunder...

The Classic Generation At the start of June, with France and Germany having already crept cautiously back into play after the COVID full-stop, Britain joined in with the beginning of a flourish of catch-up fare. In under a week of racing, we had a new star to gaze at, and time experts were in awe of Bjorn Nielsen's English King (Fr) (Camelot {GB}). While he looked super-slick in the Listed Lingfield Derby Trial, he was to be given the justifiably dreaded number one draw at Epsom and gave up any...

In bloodstock circles, plenty of air is devoted to rueing the unforgiving nature of the market, not least the tendency to toss a mare out with the bath water should she fail to sparkle with her first few foals. When Kameko (Kitten's Joy) won the G1 2000 Guineas on June 6, he made a fairly strong case for perseverance. His dam, the well-bred graded stakes winner Sweeter Still (Ire) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}), had been the co-second highest priced lot at Keeneland's January Sale in 2014 at $750,000 in foal...

Saturday is another big day in the life of Charlie Appleby, but the captain of Moulton Paddocks is approaching the G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas with an infectious enthusiasm as the imperturbable Pinatubo (Ire) (Shamardal) makes the short journey to the other side of Newmarket for his first 3-year-old examination. Last year's imperious G1 Vincent O'Brien National S. and G1 Dewhurst S. winner knows nothing of the heavy weight of expectation on him and his pilot William Buick and is mentally well-equipped to handle any surrounding nervous energy. Having made it...

Bookmakers Betfair and Betway are among the sponsors to join QIPCO in supporting Newmarket's four-day Guineas Festival on June 4 to 7. QIPCO remains the meeting's title sponsor and supports a variety of races over the weekend including the G1 2000 and G1 1000 Guineas. Betfair will support the additional races on the Saturday and Sunday cards, while Betway sponsors the Thursday and Friday cards. Friday's G1 Coronation Cup, moved from Epsom, will be sponsored for the first time by Sam Haggas's Hurworth Bloodstock. The 2000 and 1000 Guineas will...

In its latest update on Wednesday, the British Horseracing Authority's Flat Pattern Committee revealed that plans remain for the G1 2000 Guineas and G1 1000 Guineas to be staged on June 6 and 7, respectively, while the G1 Investec Derby and G1 Investec Oaks are both set for Saturday, July 4. The G1 Eclipse S. will take place on July 5, and Royal Ascot remains on its original dates of June 16 to 20, though some changes to the order of races "will be confirmed as soon as possible." The...