2000 Guineas & 1000 Guineas Festival 2026

The Guineas Festival at Newmarket is the curtain-raiser of the British Flat Classic season — two days that set the agenda for the entire three-year-old generation. Run over the weekend of 2–3 May 2026 on Newmarket's Rowley Mile, it's where this year's best milers first show their hand.

The meeting at a glance

Two days, two Classics, and a handful of top-class supporting races. Every Flat fan circles this weekend because the two Guineas are the first Group 1s of the British turf season and the first real test of the Derby and Oaks picture.

Unlike the sprawling nature of Royal Ascot or Goodwood, the Guineas Festival is laser-focused — the whole meeting revolves around two races, and the ante-post markets have been building towards this weekend since the previous autumn.

Feature races

  • 2000 Guineas (G1, Saturday) — one mile on the Rowley Mile, for three-year-old colts and geldings. The first leg of the colts' Triple Crown. Past winners include Frankel, Camelot, Galileo, Sea The Stars and, more recently, Coroebus and Chaldean.
  • 1000 Guineas (G1, Sunday) — one mile on the Rowley Mile, for three-year-old fillies. The opening Classic for fillies; past winners include Minding, Winter, Billesdon Brook and Mawj.
  • Jockey Club Stakes (G2, Saturday) — mile-and-a-half race that often flags up the Coronation Cup and King George picture.
  • Palace House Stakes (G3, Saturday) — five-furlong sprint, a traditional trial for Royal Ascot's King's Stand.
  • Dahlia Stakes (G2, Sunday) — mile race for fillies and mares, usually a useful form guide for the summer middle-distance fillies' races.

    • How the Guineas shape the season

    The result of the 2000 Guineas sets the entire colts' Classic picture. A winner that wins convincingly over a mile sets up an Irish 2000 Guineas tilt; a winner that looks to want further becomes a Derby favourite. The third and fourth often go on to be Derby outsiders or shape the St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot.

    The 1000 Guineas does the same for fillies: the winner usually becomes a leading Oaks contender (if suited by the trip), while non-stayers drop back to the Coronation Stakes route.

    The Rowley Mile itself is a stiff, galloping course — the last two furlongs rise into the famous "Dip" and out to the winning post. It's a true test of stamina and a horse that wins in good style has usually earned the form. False form lines are rarer here than at tighter tracks.

    Betting angles

  • Trainer form with early-season three-year-olds matters. Some yards have their horses primed for early May; others are known for peaking later. Check the stable's recent runners in trials.
  • Trials form reads straight to the Guineas. The Greenham at Newbury and the Craven at Newmarket (both in April) are the key trials for colts; the Nell Gwyn and Fred Darling do the same for fillies. A clear-cut trials winner that went through the line strongly is a serious contender.
  • Ground preference is huge. Horses with stamina profiles struggle on fast ground against speedier milers; watch the going report and adjust.
  • Ante-post can be brutal. Non-runner-no-bet isn't standard before the five-day declarations; read the terms.

    • How we price the market

    Our value engine compares every UK bookmaker's Guineas price to the Betfair Exchange benchmark in real time. Ante-post markets run for months; we surface the best prices and flag where bookmakers are out of line with the exchange.

    If you're new to comparing prices across bookmakers, our guide to how to compare odds across bookmakers walks through the mechanics.

    Key dates — 2026

    DayDateFeature
    Saturday2 May2000 Guineas
    Sunday3 May1000 Guineas
    Full declarations are made five days before the race. We'll surface live odds, market moves and each-way terms as soon as the field is confirmed.