2000 and 1000 Guineas News and More on McCoy
The Flat season starts for real on Saturday with the first Classic of the season, the 2000 Guineas Stakes from Newmarket, with the 1000 Guineas taking place the next day. These are two of the biggest races of the season and there are sure to be plenty of free bets and offers for them but read on for the latest news on these, AP McCoy’s retirement and more.
2000 Guineas
The 2000 Guineas is the first Classic of the flat season and takes place at Newmarket on Saturday. We’ve got 2000 Guineas betting tips in our preview of the race but the betting is currently headed by Gleneagles at 5/2, with Territories at 7/1 and Ol’ Man River at 8/1 and shortening all the time.
Elsewhere Frankie Dettori has opted for Moheet, the 33/1 shot (Ladbrokes) over stablemate, the more fancied The Wow Signal, currently on offer at odds of 25/1. Ivawood, Richard Hughes’ mount was as short as 5/1 not so long ago but after a disappointing run in the Greenham he is now priced at 14/1, odds the jockey states are good value.
1000 Guineas
The 1000 Guineas, which takes place on the 3rd May and is for fillies only is equally fascinating for us racing fans and there the betting is headed by Found, Lucida and Fadhayyil, with Together Forever and Osila not far behind. A number of horses that had decent chances, including Raydara and Beautiful Romance have already withdrawn but the big news is that the favourite, Found, may join them in missing out.
Aiden O’Brien, who has a great chance in the 2000 Guineas too, said that Found has missed some training due to a temperature and may not line up. Found, like another O’Brien runner Together Forever, was sired by Galileo and was/is heavily fancied but the trainer is set to announce soon whether the missed work will mean this one comes just a shade too soon.
Life After AP
After 20 years at the top there was no fairytale for AP McCoy in his drawn out swansong from racing. He failed to land any of the feature races at the Cheltenham Festival, yet again couldn’t quite deliver at the Grand National and missed out on a final winner at his last ever meeting at Sandown last Saturday.
More than 11,000 races, an estimated 1,000 falls and more than 4,300 winners, as well as 20 Champion Jockey titles should be consolation enough for the legend, whilst he is also the bookies’ second favourite to be crowned Sports Personality of The Year again (6/1 at Ladbrokes).
The big question is what now though for AP? He has stated he will miss the adrenaline and the excitement but having claimed he is “unqualified and unemployed” he is sure to have plenty of options inside racing when he decides he wants to return. Will he become a trainer, take up a media roll or even, as one of McCoy’s friends texted him on Monday “school run and signing on?”
Whatever he does he will be sorely missed and well-remembered and we wish him all the best for the future.
