Horse racing: Precise the favourite for 1,000 Guineas as O’Brien chases record – live
Key events
1,000 Guineas contender: Venetian Sun
The (current) second-favourite for today’s Classic was, like Precise, a Group One winner as a juvenile, though in her case it was in a six-furlong event, the Prix Morny at Deauville last August.
Karl Burke’s filly beat Gstaad in a head-bobbing finish, and that form looks a fair bit better after Aidan O’Brien’s colt finished second behind Bow Echo in the 2,000 Guineas here yesterday. Venetian Sun rounded off her two-year-old season in September, finishing two-and-a-half lengths behind Precise in the Moyglare Stud Stakes, and while that bare form gives her something to find with the favourite, she did not get much luck in running.
Burke has been pleased with Venetian Sun’s preparation and the stage looks set for a big run from the daughter of the hugely promising young stallion, Starman.
Silvestre de Sousa did not see another rival there, and Jennifer Jane stayed on like a filly who will get the extra two furlongs in the Oaks. However, at present she does not have an entry in the Epsom Classic, so it will take a supplementary to get her into the race if Charlie Johnston, her trainer, can persuade her owner it is worth the punt.
1.45 NEWMARKET RESULT: Emphatic win for Jennifer Jane
1. JENNIFER JANE 11-2, 2. Sacred Ground. 6 ran.
Off and running in the Pretty Polly Stakes … !
Jennifer Jane leads, from Brigid’s Well, Sacred Ground and Esna held up …
Order unchanged with half a mile to run, Jennifer Jane building a lead in fact … Brigid’s Well under a drive but not making much impression … Jennifer Jane three clear two furlongs out, she powers in and out of the Dip and then goes further clear all the way to the line, an impressive winner.
Plenty of late money for Brigid’s Well, down to 7-2, while Esna is out to 4-1 and Sacred Ground has also eased to 15-8.
The runners are going to post for the Pretty Polly Stakes, and Sacred Ground is a solid 6-4 favourite with Esna next in on 100-30 and Brigid’s Well, the mount of Oisin Murphy, at 9-2.
1,000 Guineas contender: Precise
Aidan O’Brien’s first-string has been the favourite for today’s Classic since winning the Fillies’ Mile here in October, when she finished three-and-a-quarter lengths clear of the field.
It looks like rock-solid form, but her preparation for today’s race has not been smooth and she “missed a bit of time” a few weeks ago according to O’Brien after a minor setback. That is clearly not ideal but her proven form at track and trip, and a career record with just a sole defeat, on her racecourse debut, will be more than enough to persuade many punters to swing behind her.
1.45 Newmarket, Pretty Polly Stakes, Listed, 1m 2f
Just six runners now for the opener on 1,000 Guineas day after the well-fancied Lilt was taken out this morning, and three – Esna, Brigid’s Well and Sacred Ground – have an entry in the Oaks at Epsom next month. The best piece of form coming into the race is Esna’s close fourth in the Group One Prix Marcel Boussac at Longchamp last October, but Sacred Ground ran a fine race too on her final start as a juvenile – and showed that she acts at this track – as she finished second in a well-run Listed race over a mile. Brigid’s Well also has a pedigree that suggests she will build significantly on her two-year-old form this season but the money has been for Sacred Ground so far today and I’m going with John & Thady Gosden’s filly to improve past her main market rival.
SELECTION: SACRED GROUND.
Preamble
Good afternoon from the historic Rowley Mile on Newmarket heath, where the 1,000 Guineas, the fillies’ equivalent of yesterday’s 2,000 Guineas, is due off at 3.35. Nineteen runners and riders will go to post, aiming to add their names to a roll of honour that dates back to 1814.
Precise, the winner of the Fillies’ Mile here over the Guineas trip last autumn, will set off as a warm favourite to give Aidan O’Brien an eighth win in the Classic, one short of the all-time record of nine set by Robert Robson in the early years of the race. Robson, remarkably, won all but one of the runnings between 1818 and 1827 – something of a contrast with O’Brien, who has hit a fallow spell in both Newmarket Classics since Mother Earth won the 1,000 Guineas in 2021.
Venetian Sun, in the colours of Brighton & Hove Albion chairman Tony Bloom, is also prominent in the betting, while a whole host of lightly-raced opponents have the pedigree and potential to make a race of it now that they have another winter behind them.
There is also plenty of untapped potential in the Pretty Polly Stakes, a trial for the Oaks at Epsom next month,which opens proceedings at 1.45, while Royal Ascot is the likely next stop for the winner of the Group Two Dahlia Stakes, for older fillies and mares, at 2.20
Man-of-the-moment Billy Loughnane has six booked rides on the card, including Esna in the Pretty Polly and 33-1 shot Rose Ghaiyyath in the 1,000 Guineas, and you can follow his progress and all the other news, betting moves and more at Newmarket right here on the blog as the afternoon unfolds.
