Good afternoon from Newmarket on the first Saturday in May – 2,000 Guineas day, in other words, and a date that has been circled on the calendars of Flat racing fans since the 2025 turf season concluded in November.

The first Classic of the new campaign – one of just five all season – has a long and storied history that stretches back to 1809, and the original prize, as the name suggests, was 2,000gns, or £2,100. That, so Google tells me at least, is the equivalent of £220k today, so the actual first prize for this afternoon’s winner, which is a shade under £300k after a couple of supplementary entries earlier in the week, compares fairly well.

The race is about far more than the prize money, however, as the winner can expect to enjoy a long and – for his owners – highly lucrative career as a stallion. And it is also the first leg of the fabled Triple Crown of the English turf, the Guineas-Derby-St Leger treble that has been completed only twice in the last 100 years: by Bahram in 1935 and Nijinsky in 1970.

There is a £2m bonus up for grabs if one of today’s 15 runners can go on to complete the Triple Crown, but realistically many are bred to be best at between a mile and 10 furlongs and perhaps only Oxagon – by Frankel out of a Dubawi mare – and the unbeaten King’s Trail – by Sea The Stars out of a Dubawi mare who stayed 10 furlongs – could be seen as potential Triple Crown candidates.

The main supporting race on today’s card is the Palace House Stakes at 2.55, a five-furlong sprint where the hugely popular mare Asfoora will be running for the first time since her win in the Prix de l’Abbaye at Longchamp on Arc day, while dual-screeners will also be looking forward to ITV Racing’s annual trip to Thirsk for the Thirsk Hunt Cup Handicap at 2.40.

All the news, betting moves, action, results and reaction will be here on the live blog as the afternoon unfolds, and the card here at Newmarket gets underway underway with the Chaloner Stakes, a six-furlong Listed contest, at 1.10.