2024 - 2000 Guineas Verdict

Tipsters Empire – 2000 Guineas Verdict

 

The 2000 Guineas takes centre stage at Newmarket on Saturday afternoon. Eleven runners will be bidding to etch their name into the history books by taking home the first Classic of this year’s flat season. We’ve decided to delve into this weekend’s entries and have provided our 2000 Guineas 1-2-3.

 

Recent 2000 Guineas Winners:

 

Year	Horse	Price	Trainer
2023	Chaldean	7/2	Andrew Balding
2022	Coroebus	5/1	Charlie Appleby
2021	Poetic Flare	16/1	Jim Bolger
2020	Kameko	10/1	Andrew Balding
2019	Magna Grecia	11/2	Aidan O’Brien
2018	Saxon Warrior	3/1	Aidan O’Brien
2017	Churchill	6/4F	Aidan O’Brien
2016	Galileo Gold	14/1	Hugo Palmer
2015	Gleneagles	4/1F	Aidan O’Brien
2014	Night Of Thunder	40/1	Richard Hannon
2013	Dawn Approach	11/8F	Jim Bolger

 

 

Tipsters Empire – 2000 Guineas 1-2-3

 

 

1. City Of Troy (Aidan O’Brien, Ryan Moore)

 

All eyes will be on City Of Troy this weekend as the son of Justify bids to become Aidan O’Brien’s eleventh winner of this prestigious Group 1 contest. He’s certainly a warm order to do so this weekend, however, after going unbeaten as a juvenile last term, very few will be betting against him. His Group 2 Superlative Stakes victory on the July course marked him out as a potential superstar in the making, while he was arguably just as impressive in victory when striding to success on the Rowley Mile in the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes just three months later. His running style and breeding all point to him being equally as effective over the mile trip this Saturday, and connections will be disappointed if he fails to maintain his unbeaten record this weekend.

 

 

2. Task Force (Ralph Beckett, Rossa Ryan)

 

Despite racing exclusively over sprint trips so far in his short career, Task Force could improve plenty for the step up to a mile this season. Two from three over six furlongs, the son of Frankel has been notably strong at the finish on his last two starts, including when staying on from the back of the pack to chase home the unbeaten Vandeek in the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket last September. Impeccably bred, connections have always viewed him as a miler in the making and he could be the one to give the favourite most to do if he’s ready to roll on Saturday afternoon.

 

 

3. Rosallion (Richard Hannon, Sean Levey)

 

Night Of Thunder belied odds of 40/1 when overturning the unbeaten short-priced favourite Kingman in the 2014 edition of the 2000 Guineas, and trainer Richard Hannon will be hoping for a similar type of story as Rosallion returns to action this weekend. The son of Blue Point won three of his four starts as juvenile last season, which included a dominant display in the Listed Pat Eddery Stakes at Ascot on just his second racecourse outing. He ultimately found soft ground not to his liking when losing his unbeaten record in the Group 2 Champagne Stakes at Doncaster on his following start in September, but quickly bounced back to form when rounding off his season with a victory over in France in the Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere. Although he is bred to improve plenty this season, his tendency to pull hard does pose a potential problem as he steps up to a mile for the first time on Saturday afternoon. Connections have been fairly bullish about his chance but much will depend on if he manages to settle or not.