Notable Speech was a surprise winner as City Of Troy failed to land a blow in the Qipco 2000 Guineas Stakes at Newmarket.
Aidan O’Brien’s colt was sent off as 4-6 favorite after an unbeaten juvenile season which culminated in an impressive success in the Dewhurst Stakes.
However, he appeared to be under pressure early on in the hands of Ryan Moore and dropped out of the race entirely, allowing Notable Speech to take the lead with a 16-1 chance.
Under William Buick, the Charlie Appleby-trained chestnut pulled away in the final furlong and won comfortably by a length and a half.
The Richard Hannon-trained duo of Rosallion and Haatem took minor honors, with a quarter-and-a-half gap between them at the finish line.
Seven questions have all the answers
Seven Questions was a surprise winner of the William Hill Palace House Stakes at Newmarket.
The three-year-old was supported by Callum Shepherd and started as the outsider of the field at 33-1 for trainer George Scott.
He was always at the front of the race, which became a real battle in the final stages when a group of runners joined in with a lot of shouting.
However, Seven Questions took the lead in the final stages and pulled ahead of second-placed Vadream by one, with another narrow lead back over third-placed Beautiful Diamond.
Scott said: “It’s a big team effort with this horse because he’s as quirky as they come. Last night he spent the night at the track because when he comes into the box he gets very excited so he had to spend about half the night out a mile from his stable!
“They saddled him an hour ago and he’s trying to kick everyone, but he’s a talented horse on his day and he did a brilliant ride. He’s a very good rider, Callum, he can do things on horses that you can’t teach a horse.”
“I watched City Of Troy warm up instead of watching him! He has given us some of our scariest moments on the track, but often these horses are the most talented.”
Seven Questions was unsuccessful in the election campaign in Dubai at the start of the year, with his best performance coming third in January.
Scott will now look ahead to Royal Ascot with his charge, although his target for this game may now require further consideration.
The coach added: “We have to reconsider now, don’t we? “The main thing was whether he would go to the Palace of Holyroodhouse Stakes or whether he would be a King’s Stand or Diamond Jubilee horse.” So we’ll see.
“It is special to have a winner on Guinea Day 2000. I’m a Newmarket boy and this is our flagship meeting.”
Unequal Love receives list honors
William Haggas is excited to see how high Unequal Love can climb in the sprint ranks after making a successful start to her campaign in the William Hill British EBF Ellen Chaloner Stakes at Newmarket.
The daughter of Dutch Art won four of her seven starts as a three-year-old last season and ended her campaign with a fourth place finish behind rival Funny Story in the Boadicea Stakes over the track and distance in October.
With both fillies off the track since then, Funny Story was favored 11-4 in the market, but 4-1 shot Unequal Love returned the favor with a one-length win at the hands of Tom Marquand. Star Guest, the 2-1 favorite, was just a head further back in third place.
Haggas said: “We initially got 3lb from Ralph Beckett’s filly (Funny Story) but she has improved physically so I hope she will have a good season.”
“I think Tom wanted to wait a little longer, but Rossa (Ryan, Funny Story driver) wanted to corner him with a bit of racing and that forced Tom to leave a little earlier than he wanted, but she stayed well up hill.
“I don’t think she wants the ground to be too firm or too soft.”
Unequal Love has an entry in the Weatherbys Ireland Greenlands Stakes at the Curragh on May 25 and Haggas confirmed the Group 2 contest is his target.
“I think it’s the Irish 2,000 Guineas day in Ireland and it’s a Group Two race against the boys but there’s no point in using them and not running,” the coach added.
“She’s got her black guy now, so it just goes on and on.”