Qipco 2000 Guineas Preview – Newmarket 2019

It’s the Quipco 2000 Guineas this Saturday 4th May 2019 at Newmarket Racecourse. Our resident UK tipster Neil Morrice previews this Group 1 run over a mile, and his horse to beat is the William Haggas trained SKARDU. Get his preview below, and get your bets on with Hollywoodbets!

Watch Neil Morrice’s preview below:

Qipco 2000 Guineas Stakes
Saturday May 4th, 2019
Newmarket – 15:35
Group 1 – 1 Mile

The first Classic of 2019 has taken so many twists and turns that we are left with one of the most wide open renewals.

Aidan O’Brien sends a team of four into battle with MAGNA GRECIA and TEN SOVEREIGNS his obvious standard bearers.

Magna Grecia was last seen plundering the Group 1 Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster in the late autumn, a race that tells us he has no qualms about the mile Classic trip.

But Ten Sovereigns cannot offer up such reassurance to his supporters, as all three of his juvenile triumphs were over six furlongs and captured in very fast times.

Furthermore, when landing the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket he clicked the best speed figure of any 2yo all season.

To sum up, a horse with such blistering speed needs to have learned how to relax if he’s to topple the best colts over a mile.

Magna Grecia is by Invincible Spirit out of a Galileo mare and clearly promises to get better when he’s asked to go further. I just doubt that he’s got the speed required to land a Guineas and am confident he will improve when moving up to a mile and a quarter.

The one with the points of the board is SKARDU whose pedigree offers up a beautiful blend of speed and stamina and who is already a winner over the track and trip in the Craven Stakes. William Haggas’s charge should confirm the form over the three he beat in that trial, as he came home impressively when switched wide entering the final furlong.

One of the most intriguing candidates is MADHMOON, trying to turn back the clock 42 years to when his trainer Kevin Prendergast won this with Nebbiolo.

Unbeaten in two 2yo outings, Madhmoon was inconvenienced by dropping back to seven furlongs on his return at Leopardstown while the cur in the ground can’t have helped either. He should be right in his comfort zone over this mile and with no rain forecast.

In contrast to Prendergast, Saeed Bin Suroor is hoping for rain for ROYAL MARINE who landed a Longchamp Group 1 in the soft last autumn. However he somehow needs to improve past Skardu who was way to good for him in the Craven.

Craven runner-up MOMKIN has an obvious chance on the book but I don’t think he can turn the tables on Skardu, while the beautifully-bred AL HILALEE is perhaps a jokerbin the pack. He won a Listed race over a mile last year but his profile indicates he might be another Derby prospect for trainer Charlie Appleby.

Predicted Finish
16 – 9 – 10 – 18 – 11

1st – SKARDU (16)
2nd – Madhmoon (9)
3rd – Magna Grecia (10)
4th – Ten Sovereigns (18)
5th – Momkin (11)