For the third time in four years the Betfred 2000 Guineas, the first of the five Betfred British Classics, went to the royal blue silks of Godolphin and trainer Charlie Appleby as Ruling Court (9-2) took the honours.        

As with last year’s victor Notable Speech, William Buick was in the saddle. Godolphin and Appleby’s other winner of the Group One contest was the James Doyle-ridden Coroebus (2022).     

A €2.3 million purchase at an Arqana breeze-up sale just under a year ago, the Justify colt already had a ‘Guineas’ win to his name having taken the UAE version at Meydan in March on his first start of 2025.

In today’s £525,000 race Ruling Court took the lead from his stable companion Shadow Of Light inside the final furlongs and stayed on well to hold off the late challenge of 15-8 Favourite Field Of Gold and take the honours by half a length. There was another half-length back to Shadow Of Light in third.     

Winning trainer Charlie Appleby said: "I could spend all day here thanking everybody but everyone knows what they've done. Each year it gets harder. It was a great race coming into it. John's (Gosden) horse (Field Of Gold) there looked great and the way he won the Craven, he was the horse we all had to beat. 

"It's been hard for William. It's a tough call to get off a champion two-year-old (Shadow Of Light) but the team have done a great job and I feel we've all collectively got our heads together and got the right people on the right horses.

“Mickael's (Barzalona, jockey) given the other horse a great ride as well and to have a horse like him who finished the way he did, it'll be interesting to see what Mickael's got to say."

Asked if he had run better than he thought he might, Appleby replied: "The mile was just that question mark. Has he run better than I thought he would? No, I wouldn't have run him otherwise! Most importantly it's great for His Highness Sheikh Mohammed and Team Godolphin. He was a purchased horse as we know but Justify is a sire we saw a bit of last year and we felt that ought to be involved as well and he's been an exciting horse since we purchased him." 

As the only Godolphin horse currently entered in the Betfred Derby at Epsom Downs, Appleby was asked if the plan is now to run Ruling Court in the world's greatest Flat race on June 7th. Betfred now make Ruling Court 7-2 joint-favourite for the Betfred Derby alongside The Lion In Winter. 

Appleby continued: "It'll be interesting to see what William's got to say but let's let the dust settle and enjoy the moment. Then we'll start to map things out from there on. 

"I feel like I'm getting older but you enjoy these days and you learn to enjoy them because they're special. You can go through the season's highs and lows and I've always tried to teach myself to enjoy them. William and I have sat down enough times flying around the world, saying 'let's try and sit ack and enjoy it sometimes'." 

On his third success in four years, after triumphing in the race with Coroebus in 2022 and Notable Speech in 2024, Appleby said: "We've got there in the end. It took us a few years to get the hang of it but thankfully we have now.

"We came in here with a lot of confidence that we had the right horses. It was a hard choice for William but he saw it right in respect of the fact he thought this horse was going to see the mile out and that's what he did. He outstayed them, I felt. Everyone had their chance in 'the dip' to come and have a crack at it. Obviously, William got a nice clear run at it and I was delighted with Shadow Of Light - at one stage I thought we had a good match race going on here!

"John's horse, as expected, was always going to come to the party there late on and he put up to William and Ruling Court but it was a great ride and a he's a very nice horse. People are obviously going to ask about him being the only horse we've entered in the Derby but most importantly we're going to enjoy today and let the dust settle and try and formulate a plan as to whether we stick to that Derby route. I'd be confident that we will do, hopefully, but they're the kind of decisions that we'll make collectively.

"When you watched them walk round the paddock he's got the High Chaparral (damsire), he's got that sort of length to him that you can see him as a Derby horse and that's what we had our minds on during the course of the winter. Shadow of Light - I haven't had the chance to chat with Mickael properly but the connections have come up to me and mentioned that he thought he saw the mile out there, so he's going to be a fun horse for the summer and ultimately he'll probably go to the St James's Palace.

"Hand on heart, you don't come into these races undercooked but I do think he'll actually come forward again, dare I say it, for this run and we'll have some nice healthy discussions about Ruling Court and potential Derby plans."

Asked if the racecourse gallop at the Rowley Mile last month had made his mind up to run both in the Betfred 2000 Guineas, Appleby said: "I wouldn't like to say that was the deciding factor. It was more what we saw afterwards. We felt that Shadow Of Light had sharpened up a bit more and that was where the question mark came in as to will he stay now?

"During the whole winter we thought 'he'll stay, he'll stay' and then he did his bit of work here (at the racecourse gallop) and everyone was here to see it - he had a good blow and it was interesting. Was it a blow through tiredness or was it a blow that was going to bring him forward and do it the right way and he did."

Winning jockey William Buick said: "I feel amazing. It's very special. I love these races, it's what it's all about. These horses are amazing, they're a joy to deal with, they're a joy to ride and to have them at my disposal, I'm very grateful for it.

"I love my job. I work with great people and it's a pleasure. When you get results like this it's very, very special."

Asked when he realised he would be jumping off Shadow Of Light to ride Ruling Court in today's Classic, Buick replied: "We had a very high opinion of him last year. He came in through the winter, he was always going to run in Dubai in the Jumeirah Guineas and he put up an amazing performance there and gave me something to think about in Dubai that night.

"But I knew that we had the Dewhurst winner in the stable as well so I've been thinking a lot the last however many months, but as always led by Charlie and the team we have a great relationship and great trust and Shadow Of Light has shown what a good horse he is as well.

"They're two exceptional horses but I loved the way Ruling Court did it. He's such an uncomplicated horse and we treated him like it today. We didn't go looking for cover or anything particular. We were going to let him do his thing and get comfortable and then ride him as if a mile is well within his compass.

"It didn't feel like it was a very quick gallop early and I got momentum coming into 'the dip' and when he came out of it he ran all the way to the line. He's a horse that could get further as well. He's got a huge engine and I think that was only his fourth run."

On a potential run in the Betfred Derby, Buick continued: "I think it would be hard not to think about it, of course. It's what everyone wants and if you think the horse is going to stay then the Guineas is a very good trial. For us Masar was third in the Guineas (in 2018 and went on to win the Derby), this horse has won the Guineas and we think he's going to get further.

"You don't quite know whether he's going to get a mile and a half but you feel a mile and a quarter is within his grasp and as for the last furlong and a half at Epsom that's when you find out."

John Gosden, who trains the runner-up and 15-8 Favourite Field Of Gold jointly with his son Thady, said: “I did warn everyone in the morning you want to watch the horses that haven’t been in trials and I mentioned the winner and I mentioned the Irish horses. They are Group One and Group Two horses and the third horse (Shadow Of Light) was Champion Two-Year-Old.

“The race probably wasn’t run in quite the fractions. We were sitting some way back and quite frankly, the winner has kicked and gone and we have run out of racetrack. In another probably 25 yards the race would have been ours.

“You know when this track gets firm like this, it rides slick and with a bit of cross tailwind, they can just get away from you. It just got away from us today I am afraid as we came into the dip. He was clawing the ground back but it was too late.

“We will talk to the family now about where they want to go but I think you would be looking at the St James’s Palace Stakes and his perfect distance in time could be a mile and a quarter.

“He has done nothing wrong today. He was just a touch far back on the fractions and the race just got away from him. He was running strongly at the end so was in great nick. I think you will find he has run a better race than he did in the trial but a trial is a trial.

“When horses haven’t run this year in Europe, don’t start discounting them and the winner has proven himself possibly worth his purchase price (€2.3 million).”

A step up to mile and a half for the Betfred Derby is now firmly on the agenda for Tornado Alert, who belied his 50-1 starting price to take fourth for Godolphin and trainer Saeed bin Suroor.

Saeed bin Suroor said: “I liked him last year as a two-year-old and after he won at Newcastle I thought he could be a Guineas horse.

“This year, I have started taking him to the round gallop on the Limekilns, as that helps to make the horses ready. Every time he worked, his work has improved and I said before the race that a mile and a quarter plus will be eveb better for him.

“He ran well and was keen. I thought Silvestre (De Sousa, jockey) would get in behind horses to give him a chance and get him relaxed but he said the horse was keen early.

“Now he will go straight to the Derby. I think it will be fine for me. He is a nice sized horse and Epsom will suit him.”