Guineas victory proves notable on several levels

Notable Speech claimed a remarkable success in the G1 2,000 Guineas on Saturday, running away with the Newmarket Classic on his first Group-race appearance to maintain his unbeaten record.

A fourth winner in the race for his sire Dubawi, Notable Speech only made a successful debut at Kempton Park in late January and was racing on turf for the first time following two more all-weather wins at the same course.

He becomes the first horse since Pasch (who also made a winning introduction at Kempton Park) in 1938 to win the 2,000 Guineas having not run as a two-year-old, and the first to win on his turf debut since the 19th century.

Notable Speech will be looking to confirm his superiority over his peers in next month’s G1 St James’s Palace Stakes, with Coroebus having completed the same Newmarket-Royal Ascot double in 2022.

Dance Sequence and Cinderella’s Dream finished in mid-division in Sunday’s G1 1,000 Guineas, a race won by the Godolphin-bred Elmalka. Owned by Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum, the Kingman filly is a half-sister to three-time G1 winner Benbatl.

Sunday’s card at Newmarket also saw Mountain Breeze become Godolphin’s first juvenile winner in the UK this year with a professional display on her debut. Closely related to outstanding Champion Two-Year-Old Pinatubo, she will now aim to emulate her illustrious sibling with victory at Royal Ascot.

First Mission posted back-to-back Graded Stakes wins as he readily took the G2 Alysheba Stakes on Friday’s Kentucky Oaks undercard. A return to G1 level beckons for the Street Sense colt, with the Stephen Foster Stakes back at Churchill Downs a likely next step.

Last season’s Kentucky Oaks heroine Pretty Mischievous found a sloppy track against her as she finished third in the G1 La Troienne Stakes on the same fixture, while Naval Power lost out by a head in a thrilling finish to Saturday’s G1 Turf Classic.

Nash and Mischief Magic also ran solid races at Churchill Downs, while Ottoman Fleet narrowly missed out on a repeat win in the G2 Fort Marcy Stakes at Aqueduct.

Tribalist has made Saint-Cloud his own over the past three seasons and the five-year-old notched a seventh course victory when gamely making all in the G2 Prix du Muguet, a race he won in 2023.

The first French Classics take place this Sunday, with Romantic Style hoping to follow up her G3 Prix Imprudence success when she tackles the G1 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches.

Deep Impact mare Fierce Pride could also step up to G1 level for the Victoria Mile at Tokyo on Sunday, with multiple G1 victor Nations Pride scheduled to make his North American return in Saturday’s G2 Man o’War Stakes.