Let's talk about... the 1000 Guineas - Our racing team with their favourite winners of the great race

What are your favourite memories of the 1000 Guineas? Share your thoughts with us via racingfeedback@sportinglife.com and they will appear at the foot of the article.

Richard Mann - Attraction 2004

It just has to be Attraction.

I’ve been lucky enough to find the winner of the 1000 Guineas a few times over the years; I’ve done my dough on the Newmarket Classic on plenty of occasions, too, and finding the right Ballydoyle filly has seemed a more challenging task in recent years.

Natagora’s victory in 2008 was particularly sweet but the ante-post slips I had accumulated on Lumiere for the 2016 edition of the race were hastily disposed of as Mark Johnston’s charge failed to replicate any of the verve she had demonstrated when winning the Cheveley Park Stakes at the same track the previous autumn.

It was an expensive and, on reflection, ill-judged attempt to take on an Aidan O’Brien battalion that was headed by the brilliant Minding, a wonderful filly who would go on to claim Oaks glory the following month.

The thing is, I had history when it came to Johnston-trained fillies and the 1000 Guineas as Attraction’s win in 2004 is one I remember with great fondness.

I had history with her, too, having been stood on the far side rail at my beloved Beverley racecourse the night she quickened clear to win the Hilary Needler Trophy in the style of a very smart two-year-old.

The Hilary Needler was a Listed race then and in stretching her unbeaten record to three, not only did Attraction pay for fish and chips and a large ice cream after racing, she had booked herself a ticket to Royal Ascot.

Heavily-backed – not by me this time – Attraction proved herself the real deal by laughing at her rivals in the Queen Mary and while her rather unusual action drew criticism in some circles, her lightning speed and terrific attitude were never in question.

Another demolition job in the Cheveley Park Stakes saw Attraction finish her two-year-old season in perfect fashion but many were still unconvinced, the Racing Post’s post-race analysis concluding “that she was promoted 10/1 favourite for the 1000 Guineas was an overreaction as the overall form may not amount to much and more serious rivals will emerge in the next three months.”

I highlight that not to poke fun; this is a game of opinions and being able to accept when you’ve got a horse badly wrong - which we all do more often than we’d like - and having the ability to move on is all part and parcel of trying to be a good punter.

Thankfully, I was and will forever remain ‘team Attraction’ and despite more than a few doubts about whether she would be able to stay the mile trip in the Guineas, I was never going to desert her come the first weekend in May.

I watched the race in my first year university halls in Newcastle. I’ll never forget that beautifully warm and clear spring day, which momentarily allowed you to forget the cold and wet of a north east winter, and as the sun poured through the window, there I was, sat on the edge of my bed shouting at an old TV that produced a picture so poor it was hard to fathom which horse was which.

I knew where Attraction was, though. That white breast-girth and distinctive action setting her apart from the rest as she burrowed a lone path down the centre of the track and when Kevin Darley booted her into the dip, she picked up in typically gallant fashion to put breathing space between herself and her rivals.

It proved to be a race-winning move but just as Attraction looked to have sealed the deal, there was time for a little late drama as the petrol gauge began to flicker ever so slightly and Sundrop bore down on her with the line approaching. True to form, Attraction dug in and held off her final challenger by half a length.

It was a breathtaking performance; a display of controlled aggression mixed with raw ability and huge desire so typical of a Johnston runner. Attraction had defied the doubters, proving beyond doubt that she had the staying power to match her devastating speed.

From Beverley to Classic glory. A story for the northern romantic if ever there was one.

David Ord - Harayir 1995

Not the best Guineas winner I've seen - but a very important one. A final Classic for Major Dick Hern.

The Ord family were long-time devotees of the trainer and by the time this daughter of Gulch came along he was in the twilight of a glittering career. Good horses were thin on the ground and retirement was looming large.

But she was to be one of the highlights of the Kingwood House era and brilliant at Newmarket. Wilie Carson, by now employed by Sheikh Hamdan and not his long-time mentor, preferred Aqaarid, meaning it was the black cap and Richard Hills for the Lowther winner.

She barely gave her backers a moment of worry, travelling sweetly on the heels of leader Epagris and still firmly on the bridle when being switched to see daylight at the two furlong marker. She showed a smart turn of foot to put daylight between herself and the chasing pack and was always holding Carson and Aqaarid on the climb to the line.

She a first British Classic winner for her rider, and only a second 1000 Guineas heroine for Hern. She was tough too, and while never winning at the top level again, kept on racing through the autumn winning the Hungerford, Celebration Mile and Challenge Stakes.

The likes of Pebbles, Oh So Sharp, Miesque and Ravinella were better fillies, brilliant in fact. But this was a 1000 Guineas to cherish for other reasons.

Mike Vince - Attraction 2004

There’ll never be another filly like Attraction, and I still regard her 1000 Guineas win of 16 years ago as my most memorable.

This was the Duke of Roxburgh’s home-bred, born with crooked forelegs, who possessed many mother-in-law type qualities too in that she was obstinate, tough and determined to get her own way.

A champion at two, she ruled supreme at three too under Mark Johnston’s brilliant handling, claiming both the Newmarket and Curragh Guineas.

The triumph on the Rowley Mile came on her seasonal debut and she went to post with one big question mark hanging over her. Having had the speed to win the Hilary Needler at Beverley and Queen Mary at Royal Ascot over five furlongs, how would she cope with the mile?

As usual she went to the front, but down in The Dip she suddenly had visitors on her outside. She dug deep as she had to - I wanted to throw her a spade to help with the digging - and as hard as Sundrop tried, she wasn't for passing.

Just three weeks later she became the first filly to complete the Anglo/Irish Guineas double. A remarkable achievement by a remarkable horse.

Send us your views

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Feedback from readers

Peter Bridges: Pebbles was on a another planet to any of those mentioned. Her performance in the Champion Stakes destroying Comanche Run and Slip Anchor was a stand out. Along with 1000 Guineas, Eclipse and Breeders Cup Turf smashing the track record by over a second, 4 top races and 3 different distances and jockeys, she was superstar of the highest order.

Mick Elliott: While serving in the Military I was told by a good friend that Shadayid was a young foal who looked like she had Classic potential. Before she had a race I put £20 each way at 100/1 with my local bookie. I also backed her every time she ran before the 1000 Guineas at which time she was unbeaten. It was a great day watching her win the 1000 Guineas at 4/6 with me having snapped up an amazing price.

Dave Chapman: The Guineas that meant the most to me was Mysterious in the 70s, I used to bet everything Murless and Lewis had back in the day and if memory serves this was their only collective success, I think the horse went on to complete the Oaks double and on its day it was a cracking horse and a real looker from what I remember. I used to then follow Hobbs and Lewis thereafter in the Guineas races with no success, I think all they had together was the win in the Irish Derby via Tyrnavos. Looking ahead a few years I also had a real soft spot for Attraction a horse with a weird leg action and a little fragility thrown in (plus the doubts about her getting a mile) made her win all the harder to achieve but there was no fluke as she went to enhance her reputation in Ireland - Mark Johnston doesn’t have many real top notchers but give him the horse and he is as good as the rest and in Kevin Darley he had a great ally.

Tony Harbour: One of my favourites was actually sent off 11/4 favourite for the Derby which in the end proved to be one of her last races - Cape Verdi. A winner of the Lowther as a 2yo she disappointed somewhat in the Cheveley Park having been purchased by Sheikh Mohammed from Robert Sangster on the eve of the race. Returning in the Guineas she absolutely pulverised her field by 5 lengths; beating future winners of The Oaks, Irish Guineas and Coronation Stakes. She was later supplemented for the Derby but having been buffeted a couple of times came home in ninth. She will be remembered as one of the best Guineas winners in recent times.

Dave Youngman: 1967 was a great year for me in racing and apart from ROYAL PALACE winning the Guineas and Derby while I was there with trainer Noel Murless we also won the 1000 Guineas with FLEET, also ridden by George Moore, it was a golden time for me and what a start to my racing life. I also have fond memories of ONE IN A MILLION and FAIRY FOOTSTEPS winning the fillies Classic for Henry Cecil, the former was only a tiny filly but very game and was given a great ride by Joe Mercer that day, she took up the running around the bushes and ran on strongly, Lester also was seen at his best on Fairy Footsteps despite riding with the discomfort of an injured ear that he had received when being dragged under the stalls a few days earlier. Many fine fillies have graced the winners enclosure after the fillies Classic here at Newmarket but I think PEBBLES would be one of the very best.

Andrew Pelis: The 1,000 Guineas can be a bit hit and miss - it can often be hard to remember the placed horses. However, the 1985 edition was rich in talent and drama - and the stepping stone to history.

Going into the race, Oh So Sharp remained unbeaten, having warmed up with victory in the Nell Gwyn Stakes.

But she faced a formidable field, including the unbeaten Michael Stoute filly Dafayna, the top class Al Bahathri, Bella Colora (who had been second in the Nell Gwyn), the Rockfel Stakes winner Kashi Lagoon, French raiders Antarctica and Vilikaia and two fascinating runners from David O'Brien's stable in Aviance and Triptych.

Al Bahathri and Bella Colora duked it out from two furlongs out, with Vilikaia for company.

Steve Cauthen and Oh So Sharp at this stage appeared a little tapped for toe, but the jockey stoked up his filly who responded with an unbelievable turn of foot.

With 100 yards to race she still looked booked for a closing third at best. Visually it looked impossible.

But Oh So Sharp sprouted wings and got there in the shadow of the post in a three-way photograph.

It preserved her unbeaten record and when one remembers what she went on to achieve over further, this was probably the hardest piece of the Triple Crown, against faster sorts.

The strength of this renewal could not be questioned. Al Bahathri won the Irish 1,000 Guineas and Coronation Stakes and today has a gallop named after her in Newmarket. Bella Colora was top class and won the Prix de l'Opera. Triptych went on to win the Irish 2,000 Guineas, two Champion Stakes, a Juddmonte International Stakes, an Irish Champion Stakes, two Coronation Cups and the Prix Ganay. Dafayna proved a top class sprinter and landed that year's Cork & Orrery Stakes (now the Golden Jubilee Stakes).

This was a 1,000 Guineas laced in history. Despite enormous investment over the previous few years, and an armada of racehorses, it was Sheikh Mohammed's first English Classic. Oh So Fair was in foal to Oh So Sharp - and part of the deal that saw Sheikh Mohammed purchase Dalham Hall Stud. Of course Oh So Sharp also went on to land the Triple Crown.

But that memory of the three-way photograph finish to one of the most exciting ever 1,000 Guineas endures.

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