bet365 Craven Stakes |
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| Group 3,
Newmarket 15:35 £85,000 guaranteed, 3yo only, 1m, Class 1  |
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1 Field Of Gold 10/3F
2 Wimbledon Hawkeye 7/2
3 Aomori City 9/1
9 ran Distances: 3½l, hd, ½l
The big grey gets up! 🚀
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) April 16, 2025
Field Of Gold charges home in the bet365 Craven Stakes 🏆#ITVRacing | @thadygosden pic.twitter.com/Q5E4xpi5EY
Field Of Gold lit up the Rowley Mile like a beacon, and in doing so, rocketed to the head of the market for the Betfred 2000 Guineas with a performance that crackled with class and confidence.
Trained by the father-and-son partnership of John and Thady Gosden, this son of Kingman had shown glimmers of something special as a juvenile—landing the Group Three Solario before locking horns with the top table in Group One company.
But this was the acid test—first outing at three, first dip into Classic waters—and Kieran Shoemark, brimming with assurance in the saddle, knew exactly what he had beneath him. Sent off the 100-30 market leader, the rangy grey travelled powerfully through the contest, biding time through the famous Newmarket undulations.
A brief moment of hesitation as he tipped into the dip—just a check, no more—but once angled out and asked to stretch, Field Of Gold unfurled those long, fluent strides and put the race to bed with consummate ease. He breezed past Wimbledon Hawkeye and Aomori City as though they were standing still, quickening away for a deeply impressive three-and-a-half-length success.
It was a moment to savour for Gosden senior, who has yet to add the 2000 Guineas to his glittering CV, but now has a live wire in the reckoning and a Craven winner for the first time in over three decades—since 1993, no less.
In the aftermath, the betting boards were swift to respond: Paddy Power clipped Field Of Gold into 11-4 favouritism for the season’s first Classic, with Juddmonte’s grip on the three-year-old scene tightening further after Jonquil’s Greenham heroics and Cosmic Year’s victory just days earlier.
The road to the Guineas is paved with potential, but on this evidence, Field Of Gold is more than just a name—he’s a statement.
bet365 Craven Stakes
£85,000 guaranteed, 3yo only, 1m, Class 1
9 ran
Going: Good
POS. (DRAW) DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1 (6) Field Of Gold 3 9-2 John & Thady Gosden Kieran Shoemark 10/3F
2 (1) 3½ Wimbledon Hawkeye 3 9-2 James Owen Harry Davies 7/2
3 (4) hd Aomori City 3 9-2 Charlie Appleby William Buick 9/1
4 (5) ½ Benevento 3 9-2 Raphael E Freire David Egan 20/1
5 (2) 1 New Century 3 9-2 Andrew Balding Oisin Murphy 9/2
6 (3) 2 Opera Ballo 3 9-2 Charlie Appleby James Doyle 7/2
7 (8) 1¾ The Waco Kid 3 9-2 Hugo Palmer Tom Marquand 22/1
8 (9) 2½ Matauri Bay 3 9-2 Ralph Beckett Hector Crouch 16/1
9 (7) 11 The Watcher 3 9-2 K R Burke Clifford Lee 33/1
