SPORTING WAGERS - The Guineas

THE 2000 Guineas is the first of five Classics in the flat-racing season. It was first run on 18 April 1809, although it is usually run in May alongside the second Classic, the 1000 Guineas, which was founded five years later. While the former is reserved for colts, the latter is exclusively for fillies.

- Fitzdares

1&2 MAY 2021, NEWMARKET

Despite its 19th-century date offering a rather obvious clue to the race’s provenance, its name is also a bit of a giveaway. After all, it refers not to a herd of guinea pigs but to a currency, the guinea, replaced by the pound by 1816.

Guineas are still used as the recognised currency for the bloodstock industry, with one guinea valued at one pound and five pence. The extra five pence? That, in the racing industry, is the courteous way of guaranteeing a 5% sales commission at auction.