English 1000 Guineas: Hot Snap favored to give Cecil seventh win in fillies classic

The unbeaten Hot Snap, the winner of the Group 3 Nell Gwyn Stakes last month, will be favored to win Sunday’s $620,000 English 1000 Guineas at Newmarket Racecourse and give trainer Henry Cecil his seventh career win in the one-mile classic for 3-year-old fillies.

The race is being run for the 200th time on Sunday.

Hot Snap, owned by breeder Khalid Abdullah, is part of a field of 15 in the Group 1 1000 Guineas, run over a straightaway mile. She will make her third start on Sunday, having won a maiden race at Kempton Park last September.

In the Nell Gwyn Stakes over seven furlongs, Hot Snap, a 10-1 outsider, closed from the back of a field of 14 to win the seven-furlong race by 2 1/4 lengths over Sky Lantern. She was ridden that day by Tom Queally, who has the mount on Sunday.

Hot Snap, who is by Pivotal, was listed as the 5-2 favorite for the 1000 Guineas on Friday.

Sky Lantern, eighth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita last November, is part of the 1000 Guineas field. Trained by Richard Hannon, Sky Lantern was listed as a 10-1 chance as of Friday. Hannon also starts Maureen, the winner of the Group 3 Dubai Duty Free Stakes over seven furlongs at Newbury, England, on April 20. Maureen, a 14-1 chance, is by Holy Roman Emperor.

The French import What a Name, trained by Mikel Delzangles, is considered the biggest threat to Hot Snap. Second in the Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac at Longchamp last October, What a Name won her first start of 2013 in the Group 3 Prix Imprudence over seven furlongs at Maisons-Laffitte on April 4.

What a Name is a threat from just off the pace, as is Moth, a Galileo filly trained by Aidan O’Brien. Moth was winless in two starts at 2, but beat maidens at the Curragh in Ireland in her first start of 2013 on April 7.

Five of the fillies are making their first starts of the year in the 1000 Guineas, most notably Just the Judge, unbeaten in three starts at 2. Trained by Charles Hills, Just the Judge, a 5-2 shot, won two stakes in 2012, including the Group 2 Rockfel Stakes over seven furlongs at Newmarket in October.