The Guineas Festival 2025 – the ultimate flat racing weekend

There is nothing quite like the anticipation and atmosphere surrounding a top horse racing festival. The upcoming three-day Guineas Festival from Newmarket is one of the major highlights of the flat season and will once again grab the attention of racing fans and punters.

The 2000 Guineas and 1000 Guineas ‘Classics’ are the Festival highlights and across the three days of action, top trainers and runners from the Emerald Isle will be hoping to come away with some major spoils.

The Guineas Festival 2025 – when and where?

Newmarket Racecourse is located in Suffolk, England, and the venue has two courses: the Rowley Mile and the July Course. The Guineas races are the headline acts on the Rowley Mile and they make this festival one of the most important in the flat season.

It features the first two Classics of the season, a pair of highly prestigious, history-rich fixtures. The Guineas races are part of the five British Classics, alongside the Derby, Oaks and St Leger.

Date & times

The Guineas Festival 2025 begins today and concludes on Sunday 4^th May, with the first two days of racing getting underway at 1:10pm and Sunday’s action starting a little later at 1:45pm.

Here is a quick look at some of the main highlights of the three days of racing.

Friday 2^nd May – First Race 1:10pm

• 1:45 King Charles II Stakes (Listed Race)
• 2:20 Newmarket Stakes (Listed Race
• 4:05 Jockey Club Stakes (Group 2)

Saturday 3^rd May – First Race 1:10pm

• 2:55 Jockey Club Palace House Stakes (Group 3)
• 3:35 2000 Guineas Stakes (Group 1)

Sunday 4^th May – First Race 1:45pm

• 1:45 Pretty Polly Stakes (Listed Race)
• 2:20 Dahlia Stakes (Group 2)
• 3:35 1000 Guineas Stakes (Group 1)

Newmarket – the Rowley Mile Racecourse

The Rowley Mile has a distance of one mile and two furlongs, but both the 2000 and the 1000 Guineas races are one-mile contests on the straight course. Any races longer than a mile begin on the Cesarewitch or Beacon course, which then makes a right-hand turn into the Rowley Mile. The Rowley Mile has been hosting the ‘Classics’ since 1809.

In general, the Rowley Mile track is fairly even. However, a couple of furlongs out, jockeys and horses are really put to the test. The penultimate furlong dips downhill before there is a one-furlong climb back up to the finish line. This famous feature of the Rowley Mile is commonly known as ‘The Dip’.

HQ and more

Newmarket is known in the horse racing world as Headquarters, or HQ, and the history of the venue stretches back to 1636. Based in the historical town of Newmarket, the venue holds an extremely special place in British racing as it’s where the birth of the sport is credited as having happened.

Newmarket is more than just the two courses – it’s a hotbed of top yards, with around 3,000 horses and 80 trainers in the area. The famous Tattersalls horse auctions also take place at Newmarket, and the National Stud farm is there.

The Jockey Club, founded in 1750, owns Newmarket along with 14 other UK tracks, including Epsom Downs and Cheltenham. Out of the 36 Group 1 races held in the UK each year, the Suffolk course hosts a quarter of them.

Betfred 2000 Guineas – runners to watch

The 2000 Guineas is the first ‘Classic’ of the season and it is a 1m contest for three-year-old colts only. Last year’s edition carried a first prize of £283,550, which went to the Charlie Appleby-trained Notable Speech, a massive 16/1 outsider, who beat Irish challenger Rosallion by a length and a half.

Last 10 2000 Guineas winners, SP and trainer

Who is in the frame?

John & Thady Gosden’s Field of Gold has been pegged as one of the main contenders for 2025 success and has been trading as the 2.75 favourite. That’s after he scored at course and distance earlier this month as a favourite in the Craven Stakes on what was his first run as a three-year-old. As a juvenile, Field of Gold also scored a 7f win at Newmarket, so he has a good track history.

There is plenty of Irish interest in Aidan O’Brien’s contender Twain, who has previously won at a mile distance. The youngster won both of his previous runs as a juvenile, stepped up to the 1m distance at Saint-Cloud in October last year, and comes highly rated. O’Brien also has 7.0 shot Expanded, Henri Matisse, Camille Pissarro and Serengeti holding early entries.

Trainer JP O’Brien also holds claims with the 9.0-priced Scorthy Champ, who won two of his three runs as a juvenile. He has been away from action for much longer than most of the other main contenders, but has been holding well in the early markets for the 2000 Guineas betting.

Last year’s winning trainer, Charlie Appleby, could well have a big say in the race with a couple of potential challengers in Ruling Court and Shadow Of Light. The former scored an excellent 1m win at Meydan in March in the Jumeirah 2000 Guineas as the 4/9F and has drawn into around 7.0 in 1000 Guineas betting, while Shadow Of Light won four out of five outings as a juvenile.

2000 Guineas stats and insights

In the last two decades of 2000 Guineas results, Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien currently leads the way with 10 victories, but he has been on a drought since Magna Grecia scored for him in 2019. Other trainers who have posted multiple wins in that timeframe are Charlie Appleby, J S Bolger and Andrew Balding. Appleby has won two of the last three renewals.

There have only been six favourites to win the 2000 Guineas in the last 20 editions, which goes to show how competitive and open the race usually is. The last two favourites to score the Classic were Irish-trained runners, both from champion trainer Aidan O’Brien.

• Seven of the last 12 winners of the 2000 Guineas were from the top three in the betting market.
• Seven of the last 12 winners had previously run at Newmarket at least once before.
• Half of the last 12 winners had previously competed at one mile.
• All but two of the last 12 winners had previously won a Group race (1-3), with seven of those scoring at Group 1.

Betfred 1000 Guineas – runners to watch

The 1000 Guineas is a race solely for three-year-old Fillies over a 1m distance on the turf. Taking the first prize of £297,018.62 in last year’s edition was the Roger Varian-trained Elmalka, who sprang a huge surprise from a 28/1 SP to land the win by a neck in a dramatic finish from Ireland’s Porta Fortuna, who was an 11/1 shot.

Last 10 1000 Guineas winners, SP and trainer

Who is in the frame?

Charlie Appleby’s Desert Flower brings big claims to the table for the 2025 1000 Guineas and has been trading around 2.0 in the racing odds. She won all four of her juvenile runs, and with a previous score at course and distance, she will carry a big threat in the field. That C&D score happened in October when she stormed the field as the odds-on favourite for a victory by more than five lengths.

Trainer Aidan O’Brien has a strong hand with Lake Victoria and Bedtime Story at 4.5 and 13.0 respectively. The former has a big shot as one of the highest-rated runners in the field after scoring all five of her juvenile outings. Lake Victoria previously scored a couple of wins at Newmarket, on 6f and 7f trips to HQ. Her last outing, in early November, saw her claim a win on her first attempt at the 1m distance.

Ger Lyons has Red Letter, another highly rated runner who could at least be in the hunt for a place finish from an early 7.0 price. She tackled Lake Victoria at the Curragh in September, where she finished a length and a half back of that winning opponent. Red Letter will be tackling Newmarket for the first time.

100 Guineas stats and insights

Aidan O’Brien has a great record in the 1000 Guineas, with five successes in the last 10 editions. Overall, six of the last 10 editions have been claimed by an Irish-trained horse. O’Brien was the last trainer to have a favourite win the race, with Minding back in 2016.

• Six of the last seven winners have been at least a 10/1 quote.
• Only four of the last 12 1000 Guineas winners have come from the top three in the betting.
• All but three of the last 12 winners had previously run at Newmarket.
• 11 of the last 12 winners had previously attempted one mile.
• Three of the last 12 winners had previously scored a 1m success.

Keep up to date with odds at Tonybet

The markets are already active for the latest 1000 Guineas and 2000 Guineas betting from Newmarket this year. Will there be another big Irish success at HQ this season? Keep up to date with all the latest prices from the entire three-day festival at Tonybet.