QIPCO 1000 Guineas

The entries for the first two Classics of the season have been released, with 49 horses entered in each of the Qipco 2,000 Guineas and Qipco 1,000 Guineas. The colts will line up at Newmarket on Saturday, May 4 when it is likely that much of the attention will focus on the unbeaten City Of Troy (Justify), who at this stage is the ante-post favourite for the 2,000 Guineas. Trained by Aidan O'Brien, he has left Ireland for two of his three starts to win the G2 Superlative S. at...

Jack Channon took up the reins at the fabled West Ilsley yard in January and has made a determined start in his bid to follow the 32-year training career of his father, Mick.  Currently saddling winners at an impressive strike-rate, including a double on Bank Holiday Monday, the younger Channon can approach the prospect of his first Classic runner in the QIPCO 1,000 Guineas with a degree of confidence. Yes, the filly in question, Caernarfon (GB) (Cityscape {GB}), may be trading at up to 50/1 for Sunday's feature but the...

Monday's email bulletin from the The New York Times told us that Britain is largely apathetic about Saturday's coronation. I guess they'd know, being on the other side of the Atlantic and all, but the bunting had already been strung through various Cambridgeshire and Suffolk villages by Sunday. In the leafy shires at least, the monarchists still hold sway. On Friday at Newmarket, the King Charles II Stakes will be run in honour of the 'Merry Monarch' whose patronage made the Suffolk town famous around the world as an important...

With few natural barriers to blasts of icy wind, Newmarket's flatlands can make the winter feel extra arduous, particularly in a year which begins with the third British lockdown in the midst of a pandemic which refuses to abate. More than ever, we all need something to look forward to, and for Jane Chapple-Hyam, hope is embodied in the form of a robust chestnut filly. The trainer is blessed with an irrepressible spirit which has surely seen her through some tougher times and, in early January, despite the absence of...