A - ZRunners Horse Racing Fixtures and Results

Ratings Update: Reaction to the weekend's key performances

John Ingles provides the Timeform ratings reaction to the weekend's action, including the Guineas trials at Newbury and the Scottish Grand National.

Both of Newbury’s traditional Guineas trials featured disappointing efforts from the favourites but were also won with much-improved performances which entitles the respective winners to take their chances at Newmarket.

Several of the market leaders disappointed in the Dubai Duty Free Stakes (Fred Darling) but 33/1 winner Duty First (109 from 92) produced the best performance seen in the race for at least a decade. Placed on soft ground in the Prestige Stakes and Rockfel Stakes on her last two starts last year, Duty First found considerable improvement under less testing conditions to run out a clear-cut winner by three and a quarter lengths from another long shot Hey Boo (103 from 86p).

Duty First’s effort was backed up by a good timefigure, her time just under half a second quicker than the Greenham winner. Entered at the Curragh but not at Newmarket, Duty Free would be well worth supplementing for the 1000 Guineas on this showing for all that her pedigree is essentially that of a sprinter.