Last year’s race

• Winner: Field Of Gold
• Jockey: Colin Keane
• Trainer: John & Thady Gosden
• Owner: Juddmonte
• Age: 3 Weight: 9st 2lbs
• Starting Price: 8/11
• Season Form Figures: 121
• Previous Best: 1st - Tattersalls Irish 2,000 Guineas (Group 1), Curragh (May 2025)

By Paul Jones

It looks like we will have ourselves a rematch between the 1-2 at Newmarket and possibly even a clash of all three major 2000 Guineas winners like last season, with the Irish and French winners in Gstaad and Rayif set to join Newmarket hero Bow Echo, which would make the St James’s Palace Stakes the race of the meeting for many.

It usually pays to stick to the leading fancies for the St James’s Palace, and following the hugely-impressive success of Field Of Gold last season, 17 of the last 27 winners entered this race as a Classic winner. In fact, the last five winners had all won a Classic, namely Poetic Flare, Coroebus, Paddington, Rosallion and Field Of Gold.

The last three winners were following up their success in the Irish 2,000 Guineas, and the last two of which were going one place better at the Curragh than at Newmarket, with Gstaad having the exact same profile this year. However, he has 2¾ lengths to find with Bow Echo, who was one of the highest-rated winners of the 2000 Guineas over the last 50-odd years after his devastating performance, with 10¾ lengths back to the third Distant Storm, who has since finished a 3-lengths second to Gstaad in the Irish version.

The arguments that Gstaad can bridge the gap are based around varying degrees of fitness levels at Newmarket, and also on account of the two racing wide apart from each other at HQ. The general feeling is that Bow Echo was primed to the minute, so is there any more to come from George Boughey's charge, plus he also had the ideal set up of a strong gallop, whereas Gstaad certainly looks to have improved for the outing, so it’s game on.

Regards rematches from the 2000 Guineas, this century we have had six form reversals from Newmarket; Azamour over Haafhd, Canford Cliffs over Makfi, Kingman over Night Of Thunder, Barney Roy over Churchill, Rosallion over Notable Speech, and Field Of Gold over Ruling Court. We have also had four confirmations of form; Henrythenavigator over Ravens Pass, Frankel over Dubawi Gold, Dawn Approach over Toronado, and Poetic Flare over Lucky Vega.

As for the market as a guide, only Circus Maximus (10/1), who had previously failed to stay in the Derby when finishing sixth, has won at double-figure odds since 1992, when the first-time blinkered Brief Truce (25/1) floored what was supposed to be the big head-to-head of Arazi and Rodrigo De Triano (both finished unplaced). Eleven of the last 18 winners were sent off favourite.

The days of all three major Guineas winners taking each other on here diminished when the Prix du Jockey-Club was reduced to 1m2f, so many winners of the Poulains (French 2,000 Guineas) now head there instead, meaning the 2000 Guineas and Irish 2,000 Guineas hold an even more significant edge over the French equivalent, with the Newmarket and Curragh classics having highlighted 22 and 19 of the last 31 winners, respectively. However, it looks like Francis-Henri Graffard and Aga Khan Studs may run their French 2,000 Guineas winner Rayif in the SJP, which would add even more spice to the race.

In fact, an eye-catching 17 of the last 31 St James’s Palace winners contested both the 2000 Guineas and Irish 2,000 Guineas, so that’s a positive stat for the 1-2 at the Curragh in Gstaad and Distant Storm. The runner-up could take Gstaad on for a third time this season for Godolphin, who have won the SJP on four occasions, though they have also been represented by six losing classic winners here. The authoritative 2021 winner Poetic Flare actually contested all three Guineas, further underlining his toughness.

The Gosden stable have won three of the last eight runnings, twice with horses that bypassed all the Guineas altogether (Without Parole and Palace Pier), and they were only a neck away from making that four when King Of Comedy was only just denied in between those successes.

Aidan O’Brien has been the trainer to follow, winning nine of the last 26 runnings, with seven of his winners having also contested the Irish 2,000 Guineas. Three of his dual Guineas winners went on to add this prize, but his finest hour in this race came when saddling the 1-2-3 in 2007, while he has also had 13 horses placed in addition to his winners going back to 2002.

His Gstaad won the Coventry Stakes at last year’s Royal Ascot. The relevance of highlighting that victory on this day 12 months ago is that Henrythenavigator, Canford Cliffs and Dawn Approach have all won the Coventry Stakes in the last 16 years.

In the biggest field of modern times, Most Improved won from stall 15 of 16 in 2012, but it’s been a case of the lower - so nearer the rail - the better since, with four of the last eight winners coming from stall 1 or 2.

Winning form last time out is far from essential, with 11 of the last 30 winners beaten on their most recent start - three in the Derby. Only two of the last 13 winners had just one previous run that season.