Gleneagles gives O'Brien record-tying English 2000 Guineas win

Gleneagles soared to the fore of the European 3-year-old mile division, won his fourth group stakes, and gave trainer Aidan O’Brien a record-equaling seventh career win in Saturday’s Group 1 English 2000 Guineas at Newmarket Racecourse.

Sent off as the 4-1 favorite, Gleneagles won the one-mile turf race on a straightaway by 2 1/4 lengths over the French challenger Territories, a 5-1 chance. Ivawood, the winner of two Group 2 races last year, finished third in the field of 18.

Gleneagles gave champion jockey Ryan Moore his first career win in the 2000 Guineas, which was worth approximately $752,000. For O’Brien, the win equals the record of 19th century trainer John Scott, who won seven runnings from 1842 to 1862.

After the start, the field divided into two groups with 10 runners moving to the side of the course closest to the stands and the remaining eight racing in the center of the track. Gleneagles was part of the 10-runner group on the stand side. He moved to the front of that group with less than a quarter-mile remaining and had a clear lead with a furlong to go. Ivawood had the best finish of the runners who raced in the center of the course.

By Galileo, Gleneagles had his first start of the year in the 2000 Guineas. He finished first in the Prix Jean Luc Lagardere at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris last October but was disqualified and placed third for causing interference in the stretch of the seven-furlong race. In Ireland last year, he won the Group 1 Vincent O’Brien National Stakes at seven furlongs.

Gleneagles races for Michael Tabor, Susan Magnier, and Derrick Smith and has won 5 of 7 starts in his career. O’Brien indicated Gleneagles would stay in the mile division, with Group 1 races such as the Irish 2000 Guineas at The Curragh on May 23 and the St. James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot on June 16 under consideration.