We had a surprise winner in last year’s 2000 Guineas with Charlie Appleby’s Notable Speech winning at odds of 16/1. Appleby has a good chance of winning again this year with three strong contenders. He could even repeat the all-weather route that led to last year’s success.
Charlie Appleby’s Shadow of Light is the second favourite to win the 2000 Guineas and has only lost one of his five races. That was in the Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes when finishing second, three quarters of a length behind Cool Hand Hoof. The loss came over six furlongs and that is two less than this first classic of the 2025 horse racing season.
Since then, the Charlie Appleby runner has won two Group 1 races at Newmarket (Juddmonte Middle Park and Dewhurst Stakes) and is 7/1 to win the 2000 Guineas. He is yet to race over a mile but has been running on well over seven furlongs. Could he be the first favourite to win this race since 2017?
Opera Ballo is Undefeated on All Weather
Appleby certainly has a strong set of contenders for the 2000 Guineas. Opera Ballo is available at 14/1 but has taken an unorthodox but familiar route so far in his career. Last year, Notable Speech made his turf debut in the 2000 Guineas after two all-weather wins at Kempton. Opera Ballo has repeated that in 2025 after not running as a two-year-old.
The highest level raced at so far is Class 3. Opera Ballo is well regarded by the Appleby stable but can he be as effective in much higher class and on turf?
Charlie Appleby also runs Ruling Court who is another available at odds of 10/1. This contender also won his debut in a Class 4 race but failed to follow up at York in the Tattersalls Acomb Stakes, only finishing third behind The Lion in Winter.
This year has already seen Ruling Court make his reappearance with a run in Meydan. That saw him win their version of the 2000 Guineas.
Expect Competition From O’Brien’s “Special” Runner
Last year’s race was notable for the failure of odds-on favourite City of Troy. The Aidan O’Brien runner could only finish ninth but went on to win the Epsom Derby a month later.
The Irish trainer again has the favourite this year with Twain available at 6/1 with racebooks, according to Horse.bet, a horse race betting comparison site. While most two-year-olds make their debuts in the summer, Twain didn’t set foot on a racecourse until October.
He made all to win a Leopardstown maiden and then reappeared eight days later in a Group 1 at Saint-Cloud. The Criterium International was won and Aidan O’Brien said he felt his runner was “special.”
His two wins came on soft and heavy ground and that is unlikely to be the conditions underfoot for Newmarket in early May. Ability to perform just as well or even better on better ground must be proved and he is not as experienced as most of his rivals. However, it is always difficult to rule out any O’Brien runner.
O’Brien also runs Expanded who also had a busy October last year. The two-year-old won on debut at Leopardstown but only by a neck after a slow start. A week later, he finished a neck behind Shadow of Light in the Dewhurst. He looks like another runner who lacks experience but could show considerable improvement as a three-year-old. At 8/1 there is some each-way value here, especially considering who his trainer is.
Other Contenders
Harry Charlton trains Cosmic Year and winning the 2000 Guineas would be out of this world and make him a star. This runner has Kingsman as his sire but has a lot to prove. He only raced once as a two-year-old and that was when winning a Class 4 race at Sandown last September. That was on good ground and it will be fascinating to see how he progresses as a three-year-old. 10/1 could be too short a price though.
Joseph O’Brien trains Scorthy Champ who won two of his three races as a two-year-old. That was in his second race when finishing third behind Henri Matisse in a Group 2 race at the Curragh. He bounced back well though by winning the Group 1 National Stakes where he reversed form with Henri Matisse. There are some each-way claims at 10/1 if continuing to improve on his last run.
We look set for a fascinating 2000 Guineas on May 3. As always seems to be the case with this race, there are so many questions to be answered. Can inexperienced horses train on and step up to the plate as three year-olds?
Last year saw Charlie Appleby train the winner of the 2000 Guineas and he has a good chance of repeating that feat in 2025. Could it be with another runner making his turf debut?