Why you must attend the Qipco Guineas Festival this year

On the May Bank Holiday weekend, tens of thousands of horse racing fans will travel to Newmarket for the annual Guineas Festival. This two-day meeting attracts the greatest young flat racing horses in the world as they try to win the first two Classics of the flat season.

Ultimately, there are to main highlights of this particular meeting: the 1000 Guineas and the 2000 Guineas. The former is for fillies and the latter is for colts. Both races are firmly embedded in the British horse racing calendar and have been running for over two centuries – an impressive achievement.

The Rowley Mile will host this year’s event, just as it has hosted flat racing for over 300 years. Newmarket is unique in the sense that it also has another course, the July racecourse, but as the name suggests, that is only in use throughout the summer months. As the meeting approaches, you can keep up to date with runners, riders and horse racing betting news via Bookies.com.

Last year, racegoers were treated to two of the finest races in Newmarket’s illustrious history. In the 1000 Guineas, Ryan Moore rode the perfect race on Legatissimo to snatch victory from the back of the field. Meanwhile, Moore completed a famous Guineas double as the well-fancied Gleneagles held off 17 challengers to romp home.

In 2016, organisers are expecting the weekend to be one of the most popular in the festival’s long-standing history. While National Hunt meetings like the Cheltenham Festival and Grand National continually attract plenty of media attention, flat racing is growing – especially in recent years after the legendary Frankel’s exploits at Royal Ascot.

If you simply cannot wait for April’s meeting, why not tune into the Cheltenham Festival later this month? As described in more detail here, there are plenty of meetings and races to watch and the last warm-up events are due to take place in the coming weeks. Bookies.com can keep you informed on all things Cheltenham and the final fields are set to be confirmed in the very near future.

Although the Cheltenham Festival makes for a great spectacle, the flat-racing Guineas weekend at Newmarket surely remains the best racing meeting of the year. With the top trainers, owners, jockeys and prospects involved, it’s sure to be yet another memorable event and hopefully YOU can get involved!