2,000 Guineas betting with William Hill

Once the bunting comes down at Aintree after another Grand National, the horse racing world’s attention turns to the first Classic of the flat campaign. William Hill has all the 2,000 Guineas betting you need for the top colts’ crack at the Rowley Mile.

Newmarket is known as the home of horse racing in England, with the Suffolk venue hosting nine Group 1 races throughout the year, but kicking off the summer with the best three-year-old milers around takes some beating.

The 2,000 Guineas has been running since 1809, coming into being five years before its sister event, the 1,000 Guineas, and conceived by the co-founder of the Derby, Sir Charles Bunbury.

Records in this race have tumbled over the past decade, with Aidan O’Brien now the most successful trainer in 2,000 Guineas history and likely to stay so for some time, but Ballydoyle haven’t quite had it all their own way.

Stay in the loop with all the latest 2,000 Guineas odds markets at William Hill, from the early whispers ahead of a flying juvenile’s anxious debut to starters orders on the big day.

The early value in the 2,000 Guineas betting

Be on the lookout for all of the early signs of 2,000 Guineas betting value on both sides of the Irish Sea with William Hill.

Among the wide range of Group races open to two-year-old colts during mid-late summer, when most make their debuts, Leopardstown’s Group 3 Tyros Stakes has proved the best indicator of 2,000 Guineas success in recent years.

Aidan O’Brien pair Churchill and Gleneagles followed similar routes to Newmarket glory in 2017 and 2015 respectively, with both winning at Leopardstown in July and the Group 2 Futurity Stakes at The Curragh in August.

Royal Ascot’s Group 2 Coventry Stakes used to be relied upon for the occasional future 2,000 Guineas hero, with Jim Bolger’s Dawn Approach and O’Brien’s Henrythenavigator doubling up in 2013 and 2008 respectively, so the June fixture is due another harbinger of value.

The 2,000 Guineas betting market moves

Betting on the 2,000 Guineas starts to take shape around nine months out, in the run up to September’s Group 1 Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket.

This race hasn’t proved a reliable indicator of the next year’s 2,000 Guineas for some time, but Middle Park winners often prove popular in ante-post betting markets.

Such is the prestige of the 2,000 Guineas, coupled with the unpredictably of the fledgling runners, the field can remain crowded all the way through the spring before being whittled down to around a dozen ahead of the main event.

O’Brien provides the biggest puzzle, as the leading trainer in 2,000 Guineas history has scores of brilliant three-year-olds thundering through his Ballydoyle yard every new year, making the market difficult to navigate.

Some O’Brien champions, like George Washington, Camelot and Gleneagles, always looked likely contenders, while others, such as Rock of Gibraltar, Henrythenavigator and Saxon Warrior, treated their backers to much meatier 2,000 Guineas winning odds.

With William Hill, you’ll get 1/5 odds each-way on the first three home in the 2,000 Guineas, so getting stuck into a big-price fancy a few months out can prove profitable.

Despite his string of 2,000 Guineas victories, O’Brien has only managed to get the first two home once, when hot favourite Hawk Wing was edged out by Rock of Gibraltar in 2002. Forecast bettors, take note.

The 2,000 Guineas betting trends to follow

A Group 1 win as a two-year-old tends to be a good look going into the 2,000 Guineas, with recent victors Saxon Warrior, Churchill, Dawn Approach and Camelot all previously taking the spoils in either the Dewhurst Stakes or Vertem Futurity Trophy, formerly the Racing Post Trophy.

Galileo rules the roost when it comes to 2,000 Guineas bloodlines, with the last decade dominated by his offspring and their offspring including Frankel, Churchill and Night of Thunder, a 40/1 shot at the off.

The 2001 Derby winner only ever ran over a mile once, winning by 14 lengths as a fancied two-year-old, but Galileo’s name must come into every conversation involving 2,000 Guineas betting, for the time being at least.

O’Brien and sons

Such is the shadow that Ballydoyle casts over this race, father Aidan has now seen two sons taste 2,000 Guineas glory aboard his colts, with Donnacha’s victory on Saxon Warrior in 2018 following on from elder brother Joseph steering Camelot to success six years earlier.

Back in 1998, when King of Kings’ 2,000 Guineas victory gave O’Brien his first English Classic, it was Michael Kinane in the saddle, with Johnny Murtagh, Kieren Fallon, and Ryan Moore also racking up wins for the Wexford native since.

Visit news.williamhill.com to find out who’s looking the likeliest hotpot from the O’Brien yard when 2,000 Guineas betting gets down to the nitty gritty.

2,000 Guineas trainers to watch

Outside of the aforementioned Ballydoyle threat, there are a few old hands still around to throw a spanner in the works, and some young guns desperate to make a name for themselves on the big stage.

French trainer Andre Fabre has won all five English Classics during his distinguished career, including the 2,000 Guineas in 1993 and 1995 with Zafonic and Pennekamp.

Remarkably, the septuagenarian is still hungry for more, placing twice in recent seasons with Al Wukair in 2017 and Territories in 2015.

When Fabre has a colt in the 2,000 Guineas betting picture, he’s worth looking into.

Veteran Irish handler Jim Bolger would have hoped for more than a solitary 2,000 Guineas victory with Dawn Approach in 2013, given his yard had produced five winners of Newmarket’s Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes - Britain's biggest juvenile race - in the previous seven years.

Bolger has had a quieter time of late, but given his obvious talents with young horses over this kind of distance, the Wexford native’s 2,000 Guineas runners should always be looked upon with interest.

From the next generation, Richard Hannon junior proved he has the nous to train a 2,000 Guineas winner less than a year after taking over his father’s yard, with Night of Thunder’s shock victory in 2014.

Having bagged places since with Barney Roy and Ivawood in 2017 and 2015, any market moves for Hannon’s contenders should be taken very seriously.

2,000 Guineas jockeys to watch

There was a time when it looked like Frankie Dettori and Godolphin would have a big say over 2,000 Guineas betting markets for years to come, following the Italian and Saeed Bin Suroor’s victories with Mark of Esteem in 1996 and Island Sands at the turn of the last century.

Dettori never won another 2,000 Guineas for his old employer, but did pull off a stunning triumph aboard 14/1 shot Galileo Gold in a fiercely-competitive 2016 renewal, clocking one of the fastest times in the race’s history in the process.

Given his sustained success in the biggest Group 1 races and Classics, Dettori’s 2,000 Guineas rides should always be duly noted, irrespective of price.

Ryan Moore had to wait until 2015 to land a 2,000 Guineas winner aboard Gleneagles, five years on from breaking his Classics duck with an Epsom Derby and Oaks double, and three years after his first 1,000 Guineas triumph on Homecoming Queen.

Moore has been making up for lost time since with both colts and fillies, and the Brighton native’s status as Ballydoyle’s go-to guy means there’s probably a lot more still to come.