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NEWMARKET 1.45, WEATHERBYS WITH VENATOUR RACING HANDICAP, 6F
Sir Michael Stoute’s famous Freemason Lodge stable was down on numbers from its peak by the time he retired at the end of last season, but there was still plenty of quality to be redistributed elsewhere and More Thunder already promises to be a very valuable new recruit for William Haggas’s stable. The four-year-old was campaigned over nine and 10 furlongs by his former handler but he has a potential sprinter’s pedigree and Haggas dropped him back to six furlongs for his stable debut to immediate effect as he beat Aramram and Woodhay Wonder, who both reoppose today on 5lb better terms, by one-and-three-quarter lengths and one-and-a-half. More Thunder’s 5lb penalty for that win makes things slightly more difficult here but he is in excellent hands and it looks the type to progress steadily through the year.
SELECTION: MORE THUNDER.
Unequal Love proved to be a very disappointing favourite for the opener, she could not respond after Oisin Murphy kicked for home on Frost At Dawn and finished nearer last than first.
NEWMARKET 1.10 RESULT: 1. TIGER BAY 11-1, 2. Frost At Dawn 4-1, 3. Vadream 9-1.
Not the start to the afternoon that punters were hoping for, as Tiger Bay and Trevor Whelan run down Frost At Dawn (Oisin Murphy) close home.
They are at the post for the opener here at Newmarket at 1.10, the money has come for Unequal Love and William Haggas’s mare is now a shade of odds-on at 10-11.
Newmarket Heath is a somewhat bleak expanse of East Anglian landscape and the racecourse itself is not the most viewer-friendly track – it was, apparently, designed with spectators riding behind the action on horseback in mind, rather than the common herd watching alongside.
But on a day like today, it absolutely comes alive and there are thousands of racegoers here enjoying the sunshine and looking forward to a top-class afternoon of racing.
ITV’s coverage does not kick in until the 1.45 race here, but proceedings are about to get underway with the 1.10, the Listed Chaloner Stakes over six furlongs. Unequal Love, who had some useful form as a four-year-old including a win in the Wokingham Handicap at Royal Ascot and a third-place finish in the Group One Sprint Cup at Haydock in September, made a successful seasonal debut in this race last year and is trading at around 11-10 for a repeat.
Preamble
Good afternoon from the Rowley Mile at Newmarket, the historic setting for the 2,000 Guineas, the first Classic of the new Flat season, later today.
Eleven runners are due to go to post at 3.35pm BST, and one will take the unique opportunity to add his name to a roll of honour that dates all the way back to 1809. The certain favourite is Field Of Gold, a striking grey, who bolted up in the Craven Stakes over the Classic course-and-distance last month, but he is opposed by several very promising three-year-olds with varying levels of achievement and experience to date.
The very live opponents to Field Of Gold, who will be bidding to give his veteran trainer, John Gosden, a long-overdue first victory in the 2,000 Guineas, include Shadow Of Light, who took Britain’s most prestigious juvenile event, the Dewhurst Stakes, last October, and Ruling Court, a “dark” horse in the manner of last year’s winner, Notable Speech, with just three runs to his name so far.
Shadow Of Light is one of just two juvenile Group One winners in the field – Scorthy Champ, the National Stakes winner, is the other – while Aidan O’Brien relies on Extended as he goes in search of a record-extending 11th Guineas winner.
Elsewhere on today’s televised card, a competitive renewal of the Palace House Stakes, a significant pointer towards the big sprints to come at Royal Ascot and beyond, is due off at 2.55pm, while a Royal meeting winner from last season, Hand Of God, makes his first start since in the Suffolk Stakes Handicap at 2.20pm.
The ITV action is completed by Thirsk’s feature event of the season, the Thirsk Hunt Cup Handicap, at 2.35pm, and a quick trip to Sussex for the Conqueror Stakes for fillies at Goodwood at 2pm.
The 2025 Flat season will have its first Classic winner in just over three hours’ time, and all the build-up as well as the race itself will get in-depth coverage as it happens here on the Guardian’s live blog.
