What is the prize money for the 2,000 Guineas?

The 2,000 Guineas, open to three-year-old colts and fillies only and run over a straight mile on the Rowley Mile Course at Newmarket in late April or early May, is the second youngest of the English Classic horse races. Established by the Jockey Club, under the direction of Chairman, Sir Charles Bunbury, in 1809, the 2,000 Guineas took its name from its original prize fund; a guinea amounted to £1/1/- in pre-decimal currency, so the race was originally worth £2,100 in prize money.

According to the Bank of England inflation calculator, with inflation averaged at 2.1% a year over the intervening two centuries or so, £2,100 in 1809 equates to £170,895.00 by 2019 standards. Since 2011, the 2,000 Guineas has been sponsored by Qatari investment company Qipco and constitutes the first race of the season in the ‘Mile’ division of the British Champions’ Series. In 2019, the 2,000 Guineas was actually worth a total of £500,000, with a first prize of £283,550, so it would be fair to say that the race has fared well, in inflationary terms.

Who is the most successful racehorse owner?

In the history of British horse racing, the most successful owner is Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai and Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates. In 1992, Sheikh Mohammed founded Godolphin, the Al Maktoum family-owned horse racing stable, which has since won over 5,000 races worldwide and has won the Flat Owners’ Championship in Britain thirteen times since its inception. In 2018, for example, Godolphin accrued over £4.4 million in prize money in Britain, thanks in no small part to a first victory in the Derby with Masar, trained by Charlie Appleby.

However, Sheikh Mohammed recorded his first winner, as an owner, in Britain in June, 1977 and he and his brother, Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, were highly successful owners in their own right throughout the Eighties, long before the foundation of Godolphin. Indeed, between 1985 and 1993, Sheikh Mohammed was Champion Owner in every year bar one, 1990, in which Sheikh Hamdan took the title. In fact, the year after Godolphin won the Flat Owners’ Championship for the first time, in 1996, Sheikh Mohammed won it again in his own right.

Who is the most successful racehorse trainer?

On August 23, 2018, Mark Johnston, who is based at Kingsley House in Middleham, North Yorkshire, became the most prolific racehorse trainer in Britain. Johnston saddled his first winner, Hinari Video, at Carlisle in July, 2017, but victory for the four-year-old Poet’s Society in the Clipper Logistics Handicap at York took his career total to 4,194, thereby surpassing the previous record set by Richard Hannon Snr. Sent off at 20/1, Poet’s Society made all the running under jockey Lanfranco ‘Frankie’ Dettori and held on gamely to beat 5/1 joint favourite Kynren by a neck. Johnston, who had saddled nine runners, without success, the previous day, admitted, ‘It feels a relief to get it out of the way.’

Richard Hannon Snr, who retired in 2013, held a training licence for 43 years but, while Johnston took just 31 years to beat the previous record, it is worth noting that the number of horse racing fixtures in Britain has increased significantly – thanks, in no small part, to the advent of all-weather racing – since Hannon Snr began training in 1970. Nevertheless, the new record is the equivalent of a winner a day, every day, for eleven-and-a-half years. In 2019, Johnston enjoyed his best season ever, numerically and in monetary terms, with 250 winners and £5.74 million in prize money so, while he had admitted that thoughts of retirement are never far from his mind, he continues to set the bar still higher.

 

Who was John McCririck?

The late John McCririck, who died from lung cancer in July, 2019, at the age of 79, was a horse racing pundit, television personality and award-winning journalist. Instantly recognisable by his signature deerstalker hat and sideburns and renowned for his brash, eccentric style, McCririck was, for much of his career, one of the most familiar faces in British horse racing. McCririck made his name as the face of Channel 4 Racing, which he joined, from ITV Sport, in the mid-Eighties.

A former bookmaker, McCririck delivered animated betting news, complete with appropriate tic-tac signals, direct from the racecourse betting ring. He continued to work for Channel 4 Racing until October, 2012, when he was sacked, as a result of ‘audience research’; McCririck claimed age discrimination and took Channel 4 and production company IMG Media to the Central London Employment Tribunal, seeking £3 million in damages, but lost. McCririck was also a skilled investigative journalist and earlier in his career, while at ‘The Sporting Life’, he won ‘Specialist Writer of the Year’ and ‘Campaigning Journalist of the Year’ at the British Press Awards.

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