This weekend, the opening Classic of 2026 lights up the racing stage, as a field of the most talented three-year-olds in training head to Newmarket for the 2,000 Guineas. While as anticipated as ever, the lead-up to the £525,000 1m contest has been anything but smooth, with underperformance, injury, and tragedy triggering repeated revisions to the betting market. With a little over a week to go, we now have a solid idea of the runners likely to line up on the day. However, Friday, 24 April, brought news of another star name set to miss the race.
Minor Setback Sidelines Zavateri
Starting his career with four successive wins, culminating in Group 1 success in the National Stakes, Zavateri established himself as Eve Johnson Houghton’s new stable star. Making his seasonal return, he finished a solid second in the Group 3 Greenham Stakes at Newbury, with the manner in which he hit the line suggesting he may be ready for the step up to a mile.
A mile contest may be next on the agenda for the son of Without Parole, but it won’t be the 2,000 Guineas, nor the Irish version of the race at the Curragh. Announcing the news in a brief statement on X, the colt’s trainer stated:
“Zavateri has had a minor setback since Newbury on Saturday and will now not be running in either Guineas.”
Zavateri is the latest high-profile contender to miss out, joining the injured John & Thady Gosden runner Publish, and Andrew Balding’s Gewan, who so tragically lost his life in a racecourse gallop at Kempton. With long-time ante-post favourite Albert Einstein underwhelming in two starts this season – and still needing to be supplemented – the 2,000 Guineas market looks a little different to how it did at the start of the year.
Boughey Joins Familiar Names at the Head of the Market
Despite the withdrawals, the 2,000 Guineas field contains its usual collection of regally bred sorts from the leading yards. So, if not Publish, Zavateri, Gewan, or Albert Einstein, which runners does the market suggest are most likely to prevail on Saturday?
Bow Echo
- Trainer – George Boughey
- Sire – Night Of Thunder
- Big Race Wins – Ascendant Stakes (Listed), Royal Lodge Stakes (Group 2)
Having first taken out a licence in 2019, Newmarket handler George Boughey is relatively new to the training scene. However, he already has a Classic win on his CV, thanks to the success of Cachet in the 2022 edition of the 1,000 Guineas. Boughey has high hopes of doubling that tally, with one of only two unbeaten runners among the 2,000 Guineas entries.
Carrying the colours of Sheikh Mohammed Obaid, who sadly passed away in 2025, Bow Echo made a dazzling impression during his juvenile campaign. A perfect three from three as a juvenile, he mastered Publish in the Ascendant Stakes before conquering Chesham Stakes winner Humidity in the Royal Lodge. Heading straight to Newmarket without a prep run, the horse Boughey says is “undoubtedly the best colt we’ve trained” currently tops the market at a general 3/1.
Distant Storm
- Trainer – Charlie Appleby
- Sire – Night Of Thunder
- Big Race Wins – Tattersalls Stakes (Group 3)
Having claimed the 2024 and 2025 editions with Notable Speech and Ruling Court, Godolphin handler Charlie Appleby bids to make it three in a row in 2026. Leading the charge for the boys in blue is another Night Of Thunder colt, Distant Storm.
While Distant Storm’s form figures of 1-3-1-3 aren’t as eye-catching as the 1-1-1 of Bow Echo, the official handicapper can’t split the pair, with both runners sitting on a mark of 115. Showing signs of immaturity throughout his juvenile season, the pick of Distant Storm’s efforts saw him sprint clear in the Tattersalls Stakes at this track.
While only third behind Gewan in the Dewhurst Stakes, he finished ahead of Zavateri and recent Craven Stakes winner Oxagon and ran as though he may appreciate the additional furlong of the Guineas. At a best price of 5/1, Distant Storm is the clear second favourite with most firms. If Distant Storm comes up short, Appleby has an intriguing second string to his bow in the shape of King’s Trail, who has enjoyed a similar preparation to his 2024 winner Notable Speech.
Puerto Rico
- Trainer – Aidan O’Brien
- Sire – Wootton Bassett
- Big Race Wins – Champagne Stakes (Group 2), Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere (Group 1), Criterium International (Group 1)
It wouldn’t be a British Classic without a leading contender from the yard of Aidan O’Brien. The Ballydoyle maestro has three runners among the remaining entries, but the market suggests only one can be realistically considered. Despite their impressive pedigrees and winning form in the book, Causeway and Flushing Meadows find themselves priced at 80/1 and 100/1 respectively, leaving it to general 7/1 chance, Puerto Rico, to captain the O’Brien team.
While only third in the market, Puerto Rico has done something that neither Bow Echo or Distant Storm have done, i.e. win in Group 1 company, and he has done so not once, but twice. Having begun his career with five successive defeats, the son of Wootton Bassett found himself in the shadows of his more vaunted stablemates in 2025 but took his form to a new level in the autumn. If continuing that progress into his Classic campaign, he could go close to handing O’Brien a record-extending eleventh 2,000 Guineas success.