Mouth-watering Saturday and Sunday at Newmarket
The first Classics of the year dominate this week’s racing as the Flat season hits top gear at Newmarket.
The QIPCO 2000 Guineas is the glittering highlight of Saturday’s card. Aidan O’Brien is likely to send a strong team over from Ireland as he looks to add to his record ten wins in the opening Classic of the season. Group 1 winners Auguste Rodin and Little Big Bear are among his entries.
The supporting races are headed by the Palace House Stakes. The Group 3 prize has been won by some top-class sprinters in the past.
The show moves on to Sunday when the fillies take centre stage in the Qipco 1000 Guineas. Mediate will probably head O’Brien’s challenge but she is likely to come up against Tahiyra. The Aga Khan’s filly, trained by Dermot Weld, comprehensively beat her in last year’s Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes.
To conclude what is sure to be a superb meeting, the Qipco Guineas Festival closes with a bang as the big race is supported by the Group 2 Howden Dahlia Stakes and the rearranged bet365 Gordon Richards Stakes.