Watch the Guineas this weekend and enjoy the action from the first two Classics of the British Flat racing season.

The big story for this year’s 2,000 Guineas is Billy Loughnane bidding for his first Classics win on Bow Echo, while the 1,000 Guineas belongs to the fillies and the Aidan O’Brien-trained Precise is looking to be an early favourite.

At a glance

• 2,000 Guineas date: 2 May 2026
• 1,000 Guineas date: 3 May 2026
• Watch the Guineas on TV: ITV (FREE), Racing TV
• Watch the Guineas from anywhere: Use this NordVPN deal – 75% Off

How to watch the Guineas on TV

ITV will screen much of the action from the Betfred Guineas Festival (including the two feature races) live and for free on ITV1 and ITVX, while Racing TV (Sky channel 424/Virgin Media 536) will broadcast via its subscription-based service.

You don’t need an ITVX subscription to watch live racing – just an email address and a valid TV license. You can register for a free account or download the app to your mobile device.

If you’re away from home, you can use NordVPN to secure your stream of the action from anywhere in the world.

What time is the 2,000 Guineas?

The 2,000 Guineas post time is 3.35pm and is the fifth of nine races at Newmarket on Saturday 2 May.

What time is the 1,000 Guineas?

The 1,000 Guineas starts at 3.35pm and is the fourth of seven races at Newmarket on Sunday 3 May.

How to watch the Guineas from anywhere

If you’re away from home and your normal coverage is geo-blocked, a VPN will get you your usual coverage from anywhere in the world.

There are many VPN providers out there, with some more reliable and safe than others. We’d suggest using a paid-for service such as NordVPN, where you can get an exclusive 75% off, which offers a 100% risk-free money back guarantee. If you’re not happy with the service any time within the first 30-days, then you can cancel with no penalties at all.

What are the Guineas?

As the first two Classics of the British Flat racing season, the 2,000 and 1,000 Guineas are among the most famous horse races in the world.

Run over a mile at Newmarket’s Rowley Mile racecourse, the 2,000 Guineas is contested by colts and fillies and the 1,000 Guineas solely by fillies. The two races are limited to three-year-old Thoroughbreds only.

The 2,000 Guineas was first run in 1809, while the inaugural 1,000 Guineas was staged five years later. At the time the races were named after the prize money given to the winner of each – with one guinea amounting to 21 shillings or £1.05.

By the 1860s the Guineas were considered to be two of the most significant races in the UK for three-year-olds and today attract the very best horses of their age in Europe. Often the races highlight potential contenders and winners of the third and fourth Classics of each year, the Derby and Oaks staged at Epsom Downs.

The total prize money for each race is more than £500,000, with the winner of the 2,000 Guineas taking home £297,728, while the winner of the 1,000 Guineas takes home £311,025. The 2,000 Guineas is also the first leg of the Triple Crown, followed by Epsom Derby and St Leger.

• To stay up to date with all the breaking news at major events throughout the year, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website

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When the Roger Varian-trained filly Elmalka swooped from last to first to win the recent 1000 Guineas at Newmarket under jockey Silvestre De Sousa, the loudest cheers on the track were coming from the filly’s devoted groom Kerry Humphries.

“I lost my voice!” she says of that “really special day”.

“I was over the moon and so proud of her and the way she did it – she was out the back most of the way then flew home, it was brilliant. When she started getting closer, we started jumping and cheering. Then when she crossed the line in front, we all ended up hugging each other.”

Kerry says the emotions flowed as she led Elmalka back to the winner’s enclosure.

“I couldn’t stop shaking. These special days are why you work in racing and you don’t win a Classic every day, so it makes it all worthwhile. You’ve got to enjoy every moment and make the most of it.”

Kerry Humphries: family ties

Kerry has looked after Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum’s Kingman filly since Elmalka arrived on the Newmarket yard last year, jumping at the chance having previously looked after her older half-sister Madaara.

“Madaara was a very big horse whereas Elmalka’s really small – they’re complete opposites,” says Kerry of the daughters of Selkirk mare Nahrain, who gave Roger Varian his first Group One winner back in 2011.

“Elmalka is really sweet, she loves a cuddle, her polos, her carrots and her apples, but she has a bit of sass about her at the same time!

“Sometimes when you’re brushing her over she’ll throw a leg out at you, or when you’re washing her off – she keeps you on your toes! But on the whole, she’s really sweet.”

In the run-up to the Classic race, the signs were there that Elmalka might well out-run her odds of 33/1 on just her third racecourse appearance.

“She is ridden at home every day by Beth Dixon, who has ridden her from her early days and adores Elmalka. On the day before the Guineas she actually ran off the end of the canter with her – she’s never done anything like that before so we said she’s definitely in good order!” says Kerry. “We were confident she’d run a good race anyway. She’s a tough filly and we always knew she’d be doing her best late on. It was amazing to watch.”

A twist of fate: “It was right on my doorstep”

Kerry was brought up around horses as her mum had a horse, but she only came into racing by chance.

“My dad is a roofer and had been working on the roof of the Northern Racing College in Doncaster,” recalls Kerry. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I left school and he said how about applying there. Growing up, my mum and dad would take my brother and me racing quite regularly, so I had an interest in it, but I didn’t know the racing college existed, even though it was right on my doorstep.”

Kerry has now been working for leading trainer Roger Varian for the past 10 years and met her “absolute world” One Pekan on her first day there, crediting the horse for helping her deal with the grief of losing her mother unexpectedly in 2021.

After dual Epsom winner One Pekan retired from the track in 2017, Kerry jumped at the chance to take on the racehorse whom she adored. The devoted duo have been enjoying showjumping, cross-country and pleasure rides – and “he’s still a monkey!” she says.

“Last Sunday I noticed everyone posting lovely pictures of their pristine horses in showing classes and so on, when I’d taken mine on a 10-mile pleasure ride and five minutes in, he’d got down and rolled in the mud with me!” she laughs. “He’s 14, yet still does things like that!”

Riding a former racehorse without a bridle

So close is their bond however, that Kerry can ride her former racehorse One Pekan at home without a bridle.

“I don’t know what was going through my head, but one day I thought I’d take my bridle off and canter round without it and he was brilliant,” she says of the Retraining of Racehorses personality of the year finalist. “He listens so well to my voice – I can lunge him without a lunge line and I can get him to walk, trot and canter round in a circle just through my voice.

“But if I take him out cantering in the fields, he doesn’t listen to me at all!”

Talking about the joy of owning a former racehorse, Kerry explains: “I’ve looked after Pekan from my first day working at Roger Varian’s, so we’ve gone through the whole process of working together within the racing industry to me giving him a home after racing. He is such a character and very quirky, I adore him.”

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Subscribe to Horse & Hound magazine today – and enjoy unlimited website access all year round

Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade your subscription to access our online service that brings you breaking news and reports as well as other benefits.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

On Sunday 1 May 2022, we will have the opportunity to witness some of this year’s best three-year-old fillies pit themselves against each other in the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket’s Rowley Mile racecourse. Here’s the full list of runners and riders who will be lining up in the first fillies’ Classic of the season to help you select your 1,000 Guineas bets. Who is your pick to win this historic Group One?

Pick your 1,000 Guineas bets

Horse: Tenebrism | Jockey: TBC

Trainer: Aidan O’Brien

Discoveries | Jockey: Shane Foley

Jessica Harrington

Tuesday |Jockey: TBC

Aidan O’Brien

Malavath | Jockey: Christophe Soumillon 

F-H Graffard

Wild Beauty | Jockey: William Buick

Charlie Appleby

Zellie | Jockey: Tom Marquand

A Fabre

Cachet | Jockey: James Doyle

George Boughey

Mise En Scene | Jockey: Cieren Fallon

James Ferguson

Juncture | Jockey: Colin Keane

G M Lyons

Sandrine | Jockey: David Probert

Andrew Balding

Prosperous Voyage | Jockey: Rob Hornby

Ralph Beckett

Ameynah | Jockey: David Egan

Roger Varian

Hello You | Jockey: Rossa Ryan

David Loughnane

Flash Betty | Jockey: Silvestre De Sousa

Mick Channon

How can I watch the 2,000 Guineas?

ITV Racing will be showing the 2,000 Guineas live on the main ITV channel when the race gets underway at 3.40pm.

What is the prize money for winning?

The winner of the 2022 2,000 Guineas will take home £283,550.

Recent 1,000 Guineas winners

2016: Minding, ridden by Ryan Moore, trained by Aidan O’Brien and owned by Magnier/Tabor/Smith

2017: Winter, ridden by Wayne Lordan trained by Aidan O’Brien and owned by Magnier/Tabor/Smith

2018: Billesdon Brook, ridden by Sean Levey, trained by Richard Hannon Jr. and owned by Pall Mall Partners

2019: Hermosa, ridden by Wayne Lordan, trained by Aidan O’Brien and owned by Magnier/Tabor/Smith

2020: Love, ridden by Ryan Moore, trained by Aidan O’Brien and owned by Magnier/Tabor/Smith

2021: Mother Earth, ridden by Frankie Dettori, trained by Aidan O’Brien and owned by Magnier/Tabor/Smith

Continued below…

A beginner’s guide to betting

If you fancy having a flutter on a horse race but don’t know where to start, we’re here to help.

Subscribe to Horse & Hound magazine today – and enjoy unlimited website access all year round

Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade your subscription to access our online service that brings you breaking news and reports as well as other benefits.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Newmarket is known as the racing world’s “headquarters” and the two Newmarket racecourses play host to a large number of meetings throughout the year, including two of the five British Classics (1,000 Guineas and 2,000 Guineas). The Rowley Mile Course hosts the spring and autumn racing, while its neighbour, The July Course holds the summer meetings.

Finding a hotel near the Newmarket racecourses will certainly help you make the most of your visit to the historic town. Due to the popularity of the venue, accommodation is often booked up well in advance – particularly for the Classics – so if you find something suitable available, we suggest you don’t hang around.

We’ve included a great selection of accommodation by type – not just hotels near Newmarket Racecourse, but guest houses, B&Bs and holiday lets too, so you can easily find what you’re looking for. Distances are calculated to The Rowley Mile (CB8 0TF) and The July Course (CB8 0XE).

• Hotels near the Newmarket racecourses
• Holiday lets and apartments in Newmarket

Hotels near Newmarket’s racecourses

The Jockey Club Rooms, Newmarket

Distance to Rowley Mile: 1.4 miles | Distance to July Course: 2.4 miles | Type: Hotel | Trip Advisor rating: 5/5 |

View at hotels.com or booking.com

Kings Hotel, Newmarket

Distance to Rowley Mile: 1.5 miles | Distance to July Course: 2.4 miles | Type: Hotel | Trip Advisor rating: 3½/5 |

View at hotels.com or booking.com

White Hart, Newmarket

Distance to Rowley Mile: 1.7 miles | Distance to July Course: 2.7 miles | Type: Hotel | Trip Advisor rating: 3½/5 |

View at hotels.com or booking.com

Best Western Heath Court Hotel, Newmarket

Distance to Rowley Mile: 1.8 miles | Distance to July Course: 2.7 miles | Type: Hotel | Trip Advisor rating: 4/5 |

View at hotels.com or booking.com

Premier Inn Newmarket

Distance to Rowley Mile: 1.8 miles | Distance to July Course: 2.7 miles | Type: Hotel | Trip Advisor rating: 4/5 |

View at premierinn.com

Bedford Lodge Hotel & Spa, Burwell

Distance to Rowley Mile: 2.7 miles | Distance to July Course: 3.6 miles | Type: Hotel | Trip Advisor rating: 4½/5 |

View at hotels.com or booking.com

The Wheatsheaf Inn, Exning

Distance to Rowley Mile: 3.5 miles | Distance to July Course: 4.5 miles | Type: Hotel | Trip Advisor rating: 3½/5 |

View at booking.com

The Courtyard, Dullingham

Distance to Rowley Mile: 4.6 miles | Distance to July Course: 3.6 miles | Type: B&B | Trip Advisor rating: 5/5 |

View at booking.com

The Meadow House, Burwell

Distance to Rowley Mile: 5.5 miles | Distance to July Course: 7.8 miles | Type: Guest house | Trip Advisor rating: 3/5 |

View at booking.com

Travelodge Barton Mills

Distance to Rowley Mile: 10.2 miles | Distance to July Course: 11.2 miles | Type: Hotel | Trip Advisor rating: 4/5 |

View at travelodge.co.uk

Holiday lets and apartments in Newmarket

Luxury Flat, Newmarket

Distance to Rowley Mile: 1.3 miles | Distance to July Course: 2.3 miles | Type: 2-bed apartment | Trip Advisor rating: Not yet rated |

View at booking.com

Eclipse House, Newmarket

Distance to Rowley Mile: 1.5 miles | Distance to July Course: 2.4 miles | Type: 4-bed holiday let | Trip Advisor rating: Not yet rated |

View at booking.com

High Street Apartments, Newmarket

Distance to Rowley Mile: 1.5 miles | Distance to July Course: 2.5 miles | Type: 1-bed apartment | Trip Advisor rating: Not yet rated |

View at booking.com

Mill House Townhouse, Newmarket

Distance to Rowley Mile: 1.6 miles | Distance to July Course: 2.7 miles | Type: 6-bed holiday let | Trip Advisor rating: Not yet rated |

View at booking.com

High Street Flat, Newmarket

Distance to Rowley Mile: 1.7 miles | Distance to July Course: 2.7 miles | Type: 1-bed apartment | Trip Advisor rating: Not yet rated |

View at booking.com

Old Station Road Studio, Newmarket

Distance to Rowley Mile: 1.8 miles | Distance to July Course: 2.7 miles | Type: 1-bed apartment | Trip Advisor rating: Not yet rated |

View at booking.com

Stratford Apartment, Newmarket

Distance to Rowley Mile: 1.8 miles | Distance to July Course: 2.7 miles | Type: 1-bed apartment | Trip Advisor rating: Not yet rated |

View at booking.com

Malt House, Newmarket

Distance to Rowley Mile: 1.9 miles | Distance to July Course: 2.9 miles | Type: 2-bed holiday let | Trip Advisor rating: Not yet rated |

View at booking.com

Amberleigh House Annexe, Newmarket

Distance to Rowley Mile: 2 miles | Distance to July Course: 3 miles | Type: 1-bed apartment | Trip Advisor rating: Not yet rated |

View at booking.com

Exning Residence, Newmarket

Distance to Rowley Mile: 2 miles | Distance to July Course: 3.1 miles | Type: Guest house | Trip Advisor rating: Not yet rated |

View at booking.com

Eclipse Ground Floor Apartment, Newmarket

Distance to Rowley Mile: 2 miles | Distance to July Course: 3.1 miles | Type: 1-bed apartment | Trip Advisor rating: Not yet rated |

View at booking.com

Eclipse First Floor Apartment, Newmarket

Distance to Rowley Mile: 2 miles | Distance to July Course: 3.1 miles | Type: 1-bed apartment | Trip Advisor rating: Not yet rated |

View at booking.com

Guineas House, Newmarket

Distance to Rowley Mile: 2.1 miles | Distance to July Course: 3.2 miles | Type: 4-bed holiday let | Trip Advisor rating: Not yet rated |

View at booking.com

Exning Road Home, Newmarket

Distance to Rowley Mile: 2.3 miles | Distance to July Course: 3.4 miles | Type: 3-bed holiday let | Trip Advisor rating: Not yet rated |

View at booking.com

Boutique Apartments, Newmarket

Distance to Rowley Mile: 2.4 miles | Distance to July Course: 3.3 miles | Type: 2- and 3-bed apartments | Trip Advisor rating: 5/5 |

View at booking.com

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Subscribe to Horse & Hound magazine today – and enjoy unlimited website access all year round

Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade your subscription to access our online service that brings you breaking news and reports as well as other benefits.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Two jockeys with a combined age of 104 win the 1000 and 2000 Guineas, and it’s a 20th Classic for Frankie Dettori

THE domestic Flat season may not quite have burst into life at the weekend in the shape of a superstar Guineas winner but, on Sunday, Newmarket’s Rowley Mile, empty except for a handful of owners, at least echoed to the whoops of a victorious Frankie Dettori.

In what was a theme of the weekend, both in Britain and America, there was no substitute for experience; Dettori, 50, won the 1000 Guineas a day after Kevin Manning, 54, took the 2000 Guineas on Poetic Flare for Jim Bolger, who will be 80 on Christmas Day, while the Kentucky Derby was won by Johnny Velazquez, 49, on Medina Spirit.

The oldest jockey to have won a Classic is Lester Piggott, who was 56 when he won the 2000 Guineas on Rodrigo De Triano in 1992.

Victory for Mother Earth, a Zoffany filly and Aidan O’Brien’s de facto second string in the race behind the once-raced Santa Barbara, was pretty smooth.

Dettori held her up, sent her on from the top of the hill, and came home a cosy length ahead of Jane Chapple-Hyam’s Saffron Beach and Richard Fahey’s gritty Fev Rover. The inexperienced Santa Barbara was fourth with the joint-favourite Alcohol Free not far away in fifth.

“I was super-excited to win that!” said Dettori (stating the obvious). “I didn’t have the pressure to ride the favourite and had a very willing partner who I knew would give me everything.

“Aidan gave me a lot of confidence this morning and said to forget about Santa Barbara and just ride my own race. He told me to get cover and I did; I forgot about the favourite and just kicked at the top of the hill.

“I knew she’d stay really well and I won – it’s as simple as that! It’s my 20th Classic [in Britain] at 50. I’m only 10 behind Lester now so I’ve got plenty of time!

“It’s great to do it at Newmarket. I’m extremely happy and I got lucky to get that ride. Lester was 56 so I’ve got six years left and Kevin won yesterday which makes me feel young – come on the oldies!”

Aidan O’Brien has now won five of the last six Guineas – a run broken only by Richard Hannon and Billesdon Brook.

“Mother Earth is a very good filly and always was,” he said. “It was unfair to the favourite [Santa Barbara] to come but we had to come with the view to coming back over here for the Oaks.

“Santa Barbara is only a baby. She was just green in the dip, but after having one easy run it was a great run.

“Mother Earth is a very consistent filly – she had a great run in America last time out last year and that was very professional. Mother Earth will stick to a mile and we’ll step Santa Barbara up in trip – the latter was always going to go to the Oaks next time and this filly was always going to go to the Irish Guineas next. That was the plan.

“We won’t go again with Santa Barbara before Epsom. We felt that she would learn as much coming here as she would for three runs, but it was a risk doing it that she was going to get beaten.”

A RENAISSANCE FOR BOLGER

WHILE some trainers have spells when they are out of form for weeks, months or even seasons, O’Brien’s period in the doldrums lasted a day. His three runners in the 2000 Guineas finished down the field and if this year’s Classic was memorable for Ballydoyle it was for the fact that it was the first time since 2000 the stable did not have a placed runner.

Three horses had begun to draw clear hitting the rising ground – Poetic Flare, Charlie Appleby’s Master Of The Seas and Jessica Harrington’s Lucky Vega. Through most of the last half furlong Master Of The Seas seemed to have a narrow advantage, but Poetic Flare came back at him and it was on the nod, a short-head in the Irish colt’s favour with Lucky Vega a neck back in third.

The impression was that there was not much between them, and had you run the race another day they might have finished in a different order. At the moment it would appear that an average pool of two-year-olds has not suddenly thrown up an outstanding three-year-old.

Nevertheless, a Classic is a Classic no matter how narrow the margin of victory and that in no way diminished the achievement of the remarkable Bolger and his son-in-law Manning.

A lot of people are in nursing homes at Bolger’s age but, having had a relatively quiet couple of years since Poetic Flare’s sire, Dawn Approach (by his Derby winner New Approach) won the race in 2013, he is having a renaissance – back home he still has to unleash Mac Swiney, the Vertem Futurity winner.

“I thought he was beaten! It’s a big day for us, right up there with the best we’ve had,” said Bolger. “Poetic Flare wasn’t ready for the Dewhurst last year. I thought he was a little bit fitter than he was and I was hoping he’d run a big race and get the experience of running at that level. He ran out of wind about a furlong and a half down but we were very pleased in the run and didn’t lose faith in him.”

Asked if he might now run in the Irish 2000 Guineas, Bolger added: “I’m not sure – there’s nothing between him and Mac Swiney so it’s going to be a very hard call.

“At the moment I’m not thinking about going anywhere except the mile. He has buckets of speed and I even entered him in the Commonwealth Cup in the unlikely event that he

didn’t stay, as he’s that quick and you always have some doubts about whether the very quick ones will stay or not. The St James’s Palace would definitely be on the cards.

“It’s a wonderful day. In our case it’s fairly necessary with the way I do things! It very much carries on that Dawn Approach line, and I have two half-sisters of Poetic Flare as well.”

This report can also be read in this week’s Horse & Hound magazine, on sale Thursday 6 May

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Richard Hughes (pictured) has won Group One races all over the world, and last season secured a first Flat jockeys’ championship. But until today he had never won a British Classic race.

He corrected that omission from his CV on Sky Lantern, who he threaded through the pack to take the QIPCO 1000 Guineas at Newmarket by half a length from Just The Judge.

“It’s about time!” said a slightly emotional Hughes.

Sky Lantern, trained by Hughes’ father-in-law Richard Hannon, won the Group One Moyglare Stud Stakes last year as a two-year-old. However, she only finished second to the Sir Henry Cecil-trained Hot Snap in the Nell Gwyn Stakes over the 1000 course and distance last month.

But she showed real tenacity to battle Just The Judge, trained by Charles Hills, and the Ed McMahon-trained Winning Express inside the final furlong.

“They didn’t go overfast, but it was about getting her going smoothly and getting plenty of cover. She loves that fast ground and she was tough to stick her neck out on the line,” he said.

Sky Lantern, a daughter of Red Clubs, who died prematurely after siring only two crops, was bred in Ireland by Tally-Ho Stud and is owned by Mr B Keswick.

Moth, trained by Aidan O’Brien, was third, two and a half lengths behind Just The Judge. The 9-2 favourite Hot Snap could only finish ninth.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Aidan O’Brien added the QIPCO 1000 Guineas to his 2000 Guineas victory yesterday with Camelot when the outsider of his two runners, Homecoming Queen, led all the way to win the fillies’ Classic impressively.

The race was delayed by half an hour as the Charlie Hills-trained Gray Pearl went down in the starting stalls and got trapped. She was removed in a horse ambulance but was later put down.

Jockey Ryan Moore sent Homecoming Queen to the front immediately on leaving the stalls, and it might have been thought that she was making the pace for her more fancied stable companion, the champion two-year-old filly of 2011, Maybe.

But Moore kicked Homecoming Queen on at the two-furlong pole and from then on she went further and further clear, coming home nine lengths in front of the John Gosden-trained Starscope. Maybe was another length back in third, and Gosden also took fourth with The Fugue.

It was a first QIPCO 1000 Guineas success for Moore, who said: “Aidan said she was very fit and very well. I thought I was going a stride too quick, but she just kept going. There’s not much of her, but she tries very hard. She’s very tough.”

Like Camelot, Homecoming Queen is owned and bred by the Coolmore team in Ireland. She is a half-sister to their great champion Dylan Thomas by their young sire Holy Roman Emperor, and this was her 13th racecourse start – it took her eight attempts to break her maiden last year as a two-year-old.

However, this was a highly impressive performance and she is a short as 3-1 to take the second fillies’ Classic, the Oaks at Epsom, in a month’s time.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Frankie Dettori came with a surging late run down the rail to win the QIPCO 1000 Guineas on Blue Bunting at Newmarket today.

It was the grey-roan filly’s first run of the season – and she had been touted as more of an Oaks contender, over half a mile further, than a Classic miler. But she had won here at Newmarket over the same trip on her third and final run last season, and she finished like a rocket to give Dettori his third 2000 Guineas victory at 16-1.

“That felt great! It was a pleasant surprise,” said Dettori. “The lads had been telling me that she had been working well but, honestly, she had a lot to prove on form. They went a good pace, which is what I needed, and I haven’t won a Classic for a while, especially here in Newmarket, my home town.”

Blue Bunting, by the top American sire Dynaformer out a Linamix mare, is a first Classic winner for Mahmood Al Zarooni, who is in his second season training for Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin operation. She was bought as a yearling at Saratoga by bloodstock agent Anthony Stroud for $200,000.

Following Frankel’s all-the-way triumph in yesterday’s QIPCO 2000 Guineas, the fillies’ equivalent had no stand-out contestant. Moonlight Cloud, trained in France by Freddy Head, went off the 9-2 favourite, but could only finish seventh.

The Sir Mark Prescott-trained Hooray led the 18-runner field until two furlongs from the post, whereupon the confirmed front-runner was overtaken by Moonlight Cloud. She didn’t last long in front and surrendered to Together, chased by Maqaasid. But Dettori produced Blue Bunting at the last moment to win by three-quarters of a length.

Together, a 33-1 shot for Aidan O’Brien, finished a length and a quarter ahead of the John Gosden-trained Maqaasid. Nova Hawk was fourth for French trainer Rod Collet. Barefoot Lady, the Nell Gwyn Stakes heroine here a few weeks ago, was fifth.

The well-fancied Memory was reluctant to leave the stalls and trailed in last. Her jockey, Richard Hughes, said: “If she wants to go she can win, but she refused to jump off. She nearly did the same at Royal Ascot [last year] but I got away with it.”

Blue Bunting will now head for the Investec Oaks at Epsom on 3 June as a likely favourite.

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Ghanaati gave 72-year-old trainer Barry Hills a second Stan James.com 1000 Guineas winner 31 years after he first took the race with Enstone Spark.

Ridden in the Newmarket fillies’ Classic by Hills’ son Richard and owned by Sheikh Hamdan al Maktoum, Ghanaati was somewhat overlooked by punters at 20-1.

All the focus was on the odds-on favourite Rainbow View, who ran disappointingly to finish fifth. Jockey Jimmy Fortune said that the ground was too firm for the John Gosden-trained filly.

Ghanaati, a good-looking American-bred daughter of Giant’s Causeway out of a half-sister to Nashwan, Nayef and Unfuwain, ran a strong race and finished 11/2 lengths ahead of the Jim Bolger-trained Cuis Ghaire. Super Sleuth, still a maiden, was third for Brian Meehan, while Aidan O’Brien’s Heart Shaped was fourth.

This was Ghanaati’s first run on turf — both her previous outings were on Polytrack at Kempton late last year. She was immediately slashed from 50-1 to 4-1 favourite for the Oaks, but Barry Hills said he thought she might be a 10-furlong horse and wasn’t certain to stay the mile and a half.

He said: “She’s very special, but, having said that, she never showed all that much at home. She’ll be better at 10 furlongs, and I could see her winning the Champion Stakes [back at Newmarket in October].”

Aspen Darling, pulled up before halfway, was reported to have strained a tendon. Her racing career is likely to be over, but she will be retained as a broodmare.

Don’t miss H&H’s full report on all the action from 2009’s first classic meeting in Thursday’s magazine

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Henrythenavigator overturned hot favourite New Approach in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket last Saturday (3 May).

In a hard-fought finish the Aiden O’Brien trained Henrythenavigator beat the 11-4 favourite New Approach by a nose, which was decided by a photofinish.

Jim Bolger’s New Approach made all the running but 11-1 shot Henrythenavigator stormed from the back of the pack under a commanding ride from Johnny Murtagh.

It was a fifth 2,000 Guineas win for Irish trainer Aiden O’Brien and a third for Coolmore’s new retained jockey Johnny Murtagh.

Stubbs Art ridden by last season’s joint champion jockey Seb Sanders finished third.

Henrythenavigator might be now looking to tackle the Irish 2,000 Guineas.

In the 1,000 Guineas on Sunday (4 May) the 11-4 favourite Natagora held off tough competition from Spacious in a close finish, winning by half a length.

Trained in France by Pascal Bary, Natagora became the 15th French-trained winner of the race. She also provided Pascal Bary with a long awaited first British win of his career.

Meanwhile her victory marked a fifth Newmarket Group One race win for jockey Christophe Lemaire.

In third was Saoirse Abu ridden by Kevin Manning and trained by Jim Bolger.

Plans for the filly’s future are yet to be decided — Natagora is currently entered in the French Guineas, Irish Guineas, the Coronation Stakes, the French Oaks and the French Derby.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Finsceal Beo blew away her rivals in the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket today. The filly produced a record-breaking Guineas time, passing the post in just 1m 34.94, just 0.4secs outside the course record.

Trained by Jim Bolger, who also trains top colt Teofilo (who missed the 2,000 Guineas due to a set back), Finscael Beo proved too good for her 21 opponents, winning by two and a half lengths. Arch Swing finished second ahead of Simply Perfect in third and Treat fourth.

Don’t miss H&H’s full report on all the action from Newmarket in next week’s magazine (10 May, ’07)

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now