One million pounds will be on offer this year for the opening two Classics of the British season as the QIPCO 1000 Guineas and QIPCO 2000 Guineas – the initial two legs in the 2016 QIPCO British Champions Series – will each be worth £500,000.
This represents a £50,000 (or 11 per cent) rise on last year’s value for the QIPCO 2000 Guineas and a massive £90,000 (or 22 per cent) increase for the QIPCO 1000 Guineas.
The cash boost is, as was first announced in June last year, part of a new deal which will see QIPCO extend their sponsorship of both the QIPCO British Champions Series and the QIPCO Guineas Festival until 2024.
Both races hold Group 1 status and are contested over the straight mile of Newmarket’s Rowley Mile Racecourse – the QIPCO 2000 Guineas on Saturday, 30th April and the QIPCO 1000 Guineas on Sunday, 1st May. Entries for both close at noon on Tuesday, 1st March.
The QIPCO 2000 Guineas has an illustrious recent history and is Europe’s top-rated Classic for the period 2013-2015 according to International Federation Of Horseracing Authorities figures. And, in recent years, its winners included two of the all-time greats, Frankel and Sea The Stars.
