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The 2,000 Guinea Stakes is first leg of the Triple Crown for colts in England. It is the first of the five
Classics to be run annually. Befitting its standard, the 2,000 Guinea Stakes is a Group 1 horse contest of thoroughbred fillies and colts which have to be three years old.

 

Course

The 2,000 Guinea Stakes takes place at Newmarket on the Rowley Mile over a distance of one mile. It takes place annually at the end of April of the first Saturday of May.

Winners

Wizard was the first horse to win the first renewal. You don’t have to go very far back in history to get the most successful owner in the history of the 2,000 Guinea Stakes. Sue Magnier owns seven winners of the race to date. They include Entrepreneur who won in 1997, King of Kings in 1998, Rock of Gibraltar in 2002, Footsteps in the sand in 2005, George Washington in 2006, Henry the navigator in 2008 and Camelot in 2012.

Two extraordinary performances stand out visually over the years. The first one is by Tudor Minstrel, a brilliantly fast horse who annihilated his competitors by 8 lengths in 1947, giving a third victory to Gordon Richards, one of the
greatest jockeys.

However, no performance matches that which Frankel displayed in 2011. Other notable horses are Ormonde which won in 1863 and Atlantic which won 1874. Atlantic gave Fred Archer the pioneer of his three victories in the race.

Prize money

Both the 2,000 Guinea Stakes and the sister race, 1000 Guinea Stakes were named according to their original prize funds because a guinea was worth £1.05 or 21 shillings. Starting 2001, both the 2,000 Guineas and the 1,000 Guineas Stakes offer an equal amount for the prize money. Each one of them offered £500,000 in 2018. This however refers to the total purse, so the top three horses receive fractions of that amount.

About

King George VI Chase is a British horse race held at Kempton Park, Sunbury annually on 26th December. The Group 1 National Hunt steeplechase is restricted to horses four years old and above. During the 3 miles (4,828 meters) run, the horses have to jump eighteen fences.

The race, named after the British monarch has prize money of £200,000. It prides itself as one of the most
prestigious chases in the country.

History

King George VI Chase was first held on February 26, 1937, and only four runners took part. Southern Hero was 12
years when he won the first race. He and is the oldest horse to win the competition.

Between 1939 and 1945, the race was canceled due to WWII. When it returned in 1947, it was moved to Boxing Day. The race was first televised in 1949. The race has also been abandoned on several occasions due to bad weather (1961, 1962, 1967, 1970, and 1981) and foot and mouth disease (1968).

 

Records

Kauto Star holds the record with the most wins while his jockey, Ruby Walsh holds the same for jockeys. Walsh has
won five times (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2011) with Kauto Star.

Paul Nicholls is the most successful trainer at the event. The British trainer has recorded nine wins with three
different horses, Silviniaco Conti being the most recent one in 2014.

Lochroe, Desert Orchid, and Kauto Star are the only horses with six appearances.

In 1950 Manicou, won the race at the age of five and remains the youngest winner of the competition, quite a feat for such a young horse, which is probably why it hasn’t been replicated.

 

Previous Winners

On December 26, 2017, Nico de Boinville, riding Might Bite, finished first to become the champion.

In 2016, Tom Scudamore was the winner with Thistlecrack. Noel Fehily won the 2013 and 2014 event riding Silviniaco Conti. Long Run was the 2012 champion under Sam Waley-Cohen, an English amateur jockey.

Queen Mother Champion Chase is a National Hunt race which takes place annually at the Cheltenham racecourse in England. The race covers a total distance of 3, 199 metrse, equivalent to 1 mile 7 furlongs. The Grade 1 race is sponsored by an online betting company called Betway. Due to that, it has been re-named to the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase. The race is strictly meant for horses aged five years and above. While racing, the horses jump over a total of twelve hurdles. It was inaugurated in 1959, and has since then remained the highlight
of Cheltenham Festival, regularly drawing huge crowds from all over the country.

The Queen Mother Champion Chase was initially known as the National Hunt Two-Mile Champion Chase. It gained its present name in 1980, on the 80th birthday of the Queen Mother. She was the owner of National Hunt race horses, among them being Game spirit, who emerged second in the 1976 race. It was until 2008 when the race became sponsored by Seasons Holidays.  Sportingbet.BetVictor became its second sponsor between 2011 and 2013. In 2014, BetVictor took over the sponsorship program before the current sponsor, the Betway stepped in. Badsworth Boy remains the most successful horse in the race, with a total of 3 wins, the first one being in 1983, second one in 1984 and the third one in 1985. The leading jockey is Pat Taafe, with a total of five wins.

 

This year, the race was won by a racehorse named Altior, followed by Min and God’s Own in the second and third positions respectively. In 2016, jockey Nico de Boinville won the race, having been trained by Nicky Henderson. In 2017, Henry de Brodhead emerged the winner. This came as a surprise to most people. The prize money for Queen Mother Champion Chase has increased from 227,800 Euros in the past to today’s 400,000 Euros, which is some quid!

 

About

Hennessy Gold Cup is a handicap race open to horses four years old and above. During the 5,331-metres race, the racers have to jump twenty-one fences. The competition is held annually, late November or early December at Newbury Racecourse, England. The Grade 3 National Hunt chase is one of the most popular competitions in the country’s jump-racing calendar.

History

Hennessy Gold Cup began in 1957 as Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup. The race was first held at Cheltenham Racecourse until 1960 when it was moved to its current venue. Gerry Madden was the first jockey to win the competition riding
Mandarin. In 1961, the horse won the race for a second time with Willie Robinson, a former Irish jump jockey.

Hennessy has sponsored the race since its establishment. In 2016, Ladbrokes became the new sponsor. At the time, this sponsorship was the longest in the British history. The new sponsorship has come with new prize money of £250,000, £50,000 more than 2016. The name has also changed to Ladbrokes Trophy.

Records

Three horses hold the record as the best at Hennessy Gold Cup with two wins each. Apart from Mandarin, the two others are Arkle and Denman. The former won the 1964 and 1965 events with Pat Taaffe, an Irish jockey, while the latter won the 2007 and 2009 races with two different jockeys, Sam Thomas and Ruby Walsh.

Willie Robinson has won three races, making him the most successful jockey at the event. He won the 1961, 1963, and 1968 races with three different horses namely Mandarin, Mill House, and Man of the West respectively.

Fulke Walwyn is the most successful trainer at Hennessy Gold Cup. The British recorded seven wins with six horses.
His first victory came in 1961 and the last in 1981 with Diamond Edge.

Previous Winners

Total Recall, under Paul Townend, an Irish jockey became the first winner of the race under the new name, Ladbrokes Trophy in 2017. Richard Johnson was the 2016 champion riding Native River.