Newmarket - reflections on Guineas weekend

 

Horse Racing : Why I love going racing at Newmarket

It’s early on Saturday morning and the house is largely still at rest. This peace will be short lived, and the amount of time I have to pen something meaningful is running short. I thought I might take to my keyboard again after I read the Racing Post this morning and was reminded of a bumper weekend of action at the home of horse racing.

It is Guineas weekend, the first classics of the Summer will be run today and tomorrow, in the form of the 2000 and 1000 Guineas. The 2 races show off the best 3 year old thoroughbreds colts and fillies respectively, and lay the foundations of not only the flat racing season, but the sporting Summer as a whole. In a normal year.

No normal Guineas weekend

Of course, 2020 is no normal year. So far we have battled Covid-19, the world has spoken out about equality in the light of tragedy and a private company has sent 2 human beings into space. Add to that list Liverpool winning a Premier League title and you have quite the eventful year… and its only early June.

The Guineas will be run behind closed doors this year, with horse racing the first professional sport to return to action in lockdown, with distancing measures in place. In the 5 days of racing we have had so far, the various administrations have done a good job of adhering to guidelines, and there have been no incidents or outbreaks.

I am glad the Guineas are being run for a number of reasons:

A) Selfishly, I want to watch some top class sporting action.

B) We all need a hero, no matter what form it comes in. I believe Godolphin wonder horse Pinatubo might just have the credentials to fit that bill for a short time. In the absence of sports women and men from our screens, a wonder horse might be what we all need. He may not have a remarkable story and is certainly not a rag to riches horse, but he is unbeaten in 6 races, and if he wins the 2,000 guineas, they will be talking about a second Frankel.