First outing for painted horses at Guineas event
Eye-catching painted horses will add a splash of colour to the eagerly awaited Guineas weekend.
While punters’ attention will be focused on Frankel, the Henry Cecil-trained 4/6 favourite for the 2000 Guineas, 13 model horses will also be drawing the eyes of race-goers.
Each horse has been painted on the theme of a previous Guineas winner and exhibited in Newmarket town centre over the past few weeks.
But the life-size models will have their first big day out on Saturday – the first British flat-racing Classic of the year.
Kay Dawson, events manager at Newmarket Town Council, which has organised the project, said: “It’s been tough to get all the horses painted so quickly, but it has worked very well.
“It was fantastic to receive sponsorship from local businesses and Tattersalls have agreed to auction the horses in the autumn, with 80 per cent going to Racing Welfare and 20 per cent to the artist.
“With Channel Four here, we think it will provide some wonderful publicity for our artists.”
The first horse to be painted was Atlantic by local artist Jacquie Jones, which has been exhibited in Tindall’s art shop.
She said: “I chose an ocean theme – it’s a real-life sea horse.”
Other artists taking part include Rachel Drury, Stuart Roy and Frances Wray, who all chose Sea the Stars as their inspiration, Stella Frangleton (Mystiko), Kevin Yarrow (Nectar), Chris Winch (Cockney Rebel), Esther Albone (Wizard), Kirsty Sharman (Shadeed), Jac Butt (Only for Life), Jilly Cunningham (Ten Winners in Blue), Anne Ward (Sun Star) and Emily Jarvis (Interpreter).
Meanwhile, the Newmarket-trained Frankel is set to be the hottest favourite for the QIPCO 2000 Guineas on Saturday since Nijinsky won the Newmarket Classic at 4/7 41 years ago.
Frankel, and his pacemaker Rerouted, are among the 15 horses confirmed for the mile race colts’ classic, which carries a purse of £400,000.
The colt, owned and bred by Khalid Abdulla, impressed on his seasonal return in the Group Three Greenham Stakes at Newbury earlier this month and will be his trainer’s first runner in the Classic since 2000 as Cecil seeks his third triumph in the race after victories for Bolkonski in 1975 and Wollow in 1976.