Bettors Square Up Wagers on Favored Quadrilateral in 1000 Guineas

Quadrilateral is the favorite. Millsie is the sentimental favorite, thanks to her trainer, Jessica Harrington. And Love is the value favorite for Sunday’s 1000 Guineas on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket.

The 1000 Guineas is the second of England’s four Classic races. Dating to 1814, it sends out the UK’s top 3-year-old fillies on the flat Rowley Mile. A glance at the winning owners list is like a three-century Who’s Who of English royalty and peerage, featuring more titles than found in your average library.

Included on that list are Queen Elizabeth II, who owned 1974 winner Highclere, and her father – King George VI – who owned 1942 winner Sun Chariot and 1946 champion Hypericum. The Queen’s grandfather, King George V, owned 1928 winner Scuttle.

Yes, like its counterpart 2000 Guineas – captured Saturday by 14/1 Kameko, who upset heavy favorite Pinatubo – the 1000 Guineas draws attention up and down Britain’s class structure. The focus for this year’s race zeroed in on three horses who are drawing the heaviest attention from bettors.

Nobody has Cornered Quadrilateral on the Track

The first is Quadrilateral, your current favorite at 5/2 or 9/4, depending on the betting house. Trained by Roger Charlton, Quadrilateral won all three of her juvenile races last year, wrapping up her year by winning the Fillies’ Mile on the same Newmarket course she’ll run Sunday.

Going off as the 9/4 favorite in that race, Quadrilateral beat two of her Guineas rivals: Love and Boomer, with a stalking style that steadily overtook her rivals one by one. Over the final quarter-mile, jockey Jason Watson flipped the switch and Quadrilateral reeled in Powerful Breeze to win by a head. Love was another 1 ½ lengths back in third. Boomer finished fifth.

Quadrilateral’s big-race success, her familiarity with the Rowley Mile and her pedigree – her sire is the legendary Frankel, who won all 14 of his races, including the 2000 Guineas – makes her a logical favorite.

“I noticed when I’ve sat on her that she has grown, not a big amount, but she has strengthened up massively and she looks more like a colt than a filly,” Watson told Sky Sports. “I think how she has strengthened and the amount of muscle she has put on will give her a chance to go along with them this time. She’s just a high-class animal. Whatever you throw her at, she is prepared for and she has just naturally got it.”

Millsie, Harrington, Murphy Bring a Complete Talent Arsenal

The same can be said about Millsie, currently sporting a best price of 5/1. She won three of her five starts last year, including the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes at 16/1. That day, Millsie went from last to first, overtaking odds-on favorite Raffle Prize, currently 10/1 for the Guineas.

What boosts Millsie’s profile is the legendary Irish trainer Harrington, who has trained six Group 1 winners at Newmarket. Alas, Harrington’s glittering resume lacks a 1000 Guineas title. The 71-year-old Harrington, who won the Grand National with Our Duke and the Cheltenham Gold Cup with Sizing John, won’t be at Newmarket. Ireland’s COVID-19 quarantine rules for returning travelers keeps her away.

It also keeps Millsie’s regular jockey, Shane Foley, away. But Harrington merely plugged in champion jockey Oisin Murphy, who won the 2000 Guineas aboard Kameko. He gets the ride on a horse who won at five furlongs and six furlongs, but Harrington told reporters she’s not worried about stretching out to a mile.

“She seems to be in good form and the great thing about her is she’s been to England already twice last year as a two-year-old and she more or less took it in stride each time she went,” Harrington told the Paddy Power podcast “From the Horse’s Mouth.”

Yes, There’s 1000 Guineas Wagering Sentiment for Love

Then, there’s Love, who you can find anywhere from 7/2 to 9/2. Her odds offer value not only here, but on money coming in for next month’s Epsom Oaks. Oddschecker said more money is coming in on Love for that race than the 1000 Guineas, meaning you can find value for both races now.

The product of standout stallion Galileo, who won the Derby, Irish Derby, King George VI and Queens Elizabeth Stakes in 2001, Love won two stakes races last year. But there’s the trainer factor: Aidan O’Brien. The standout Irish trainer won three of the last four 1000 Guineas, including last year with Hermosa, and said he was pleased with Love’s third-place finish in the Fillies’ Mile.

“We’ve always liked Love, she’s a very straightforward filly and we’ve always thought she’d stay further than a mile,” O’Brien told reporters. “She ran in Newmarket with a view that she might come back for the Guineas and we were very happy with the run.”

The pick: Millsie. Harrington said she can stretch out to a mile and we’ve seen Murphy’s magic already this weekend.