The QIPCO Guineas Festival at Newmarket ends in fine fashion on Sunday with a packed racecard and, of course, the second of the weekend’s ‘classics’, the 1000 Guineas.
1000 Guineas
The pair of Guineas races are the clear standout of the meeting, and this year’s renewal of the 1000 Guineas looks set to eclipse its sibling come 3:40pm on Sunday afternoon.
The reason for that is because the race appears to be genuinely wide open: when the third favourite is as long as 13/2, you know you’ve got a cracker on your hands.
Historically, the combination of jockey Ryan Moore and the ownership team of Magnier, Tabor and Smith has accounted for the winner of the 1000 Guineas in two of the last four renewals: Homecoming Queen in 2012, and Legatissimo last year.
Another horse to come out of that yard is Minding, and she is being backed to triumph in Sunday’s headline event heavily at a best price of 11/8 at Paddy Power.
This Aiden O’Brien trained runner has already taken the spoils in the prestigious Dubai Fillies’ Mile and Moyglare Stud Stakes this term, and as the daughter of another prolific campaigner, Galileo, everything is in place for an assault on the big prizes.
O’Brien brings another quality operator to the party, Ballydoyle, who takes up a position towards the head of the market at 13/2. This filly has already beaten Minding this season in the Debutante Stakes back in August, and followed that with a triumph in the much-watched Prix Marcel Boussac at Longchamp. Tongue ties will be in, but having already won with the straps in that shouldn’t pose a problem.
And then there’s the second favourite, Lumiere, who is available from 5/1 at Paddy Power. An impressive performer in her short career to date, she already two wins from three starts at Newmarket to her name and triumphed over another in the field here, Illuminate, and the fancied favourite Besharah in the Cheveley Park Stakes.
Best of the Rest
Of course, the card on Sunday features seven races in total, so there’s plenty of betting to be done outside of the 1000 Guineas.
One of the standout performers on the day appears to be Jazzi Top, who will go off as a 10/11 favourite at Coral in the Dahlia Stakes at 2:25pm. However, Amazing Maria – with a pair of Group One wins to her name – will attract plenty of attention at 11/2 from Bet 365.
Elsewhere, Oceanographer and Silver Quay look set to duke it out for honours in the QIPCO Supporting British Racing Handicap Stakes at 1:50pm, while in the interestingly-named Hot Streak Future Stars Maiden Stakes (4:15pm) keep a look out for Top Score, a highly-ated two-year-old from the Saeed bin Suroor yard.
And serving as a little entrée for the 1000 Guineas is the longholes.com Rehab and Pre-Training Handicap, where a 17-strong field will battle it out for the £45,000 kitty. Dougan – not to be confused with Douvan of course – has three wins to his name in six starts, while the Terentum Star team will be hoping for some magic from Newmarket favourite Ryan Moore.
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