There are races where the form book tells one story and the bigger picture tells another entirely, and the 1,000 Guineas on Sunday is shaping up to be exactly that kind of afternoon. Precise is the name on everyone’s lips. The Ballydoyle star won the Fillies’ Mile over this course and distance last autumn and carries the weight of expectation that only Aidan O’Brien’s best fillies attract. She may well win. But at a price that reflects near certainty, and in a race where only three favourites have obliged in the last seventeen runnings, there is a compelling case for looking elsewhere. Romping Home Racing’s pick for the 2026 Betfred 1,000 Guineas is My Highness, trained in France by Andre Fabre for Godolphin, and the reasons run considerably deeper than a headline price.
Start with the trainer, because with Fabre that is always where the analysis should begin. This is a man who has won all five British Classics, who has taken the 2,000 Guineas twice with Zafonic and Pennekamp, and who landed this very race in 2014 with Miss France. He has won the Dewhurst three times, the Middle Park twice, and a July Cup on Newmarket’s July Course. His record at Headquarters is the record of a trainer who does not merely visit, he arrives to win. When Fabre enters a runner in the 1,000 Guineas, it is because he believes the horse is capable of winning it, and that matters enormously when you are trying to separate the contenders at a busy and competitive price.
The connection to Miss France is more than just a name drop too. My Highness was beaten in the Prix Imprudence at Deauville on her seasonal return, the very same trial that Miss France lost before crossing the Channel to win the Guineas twelve years ago. Fabre uses the Imprudence deliberately, it is his preferred vehicle for bringing a filly to the boil, and they invariably improve significantly for the run. He said himself after the race that he was happy with her since the defeat, that she was working well, and that he expected Newmarket to suit. These are not throwaway quotes from a trainer filling space in a press conference. These are the measured words of a man who has been here before and knows exactly what he has on his hands.
The breeding reinforces everything. My Highness is a daughter of Ghaiyyath, a pure stamina influence, and Fabre was candid enough to describe her as “more a Prix de Diane filly” a race run over a mile and two furlongs at Chantilly. The 1,000 Guineas over a mile is not a stretch for this filly. It is her minimum trip. Every yard of the Rowley Mile and the famous climb to the finish should play directly into her strengths, and a truly run race on good ground will only help.
Godolphin won this race last year with Desert Flower under William Buick, going back to back in the Guineas with their team after Ruling Court had struck in the 2,000 Guineas the previous day. The ownership group have a rich history in this race across both their British and French operations, and they have committed fully to Newmarket this time, Godolphin’s French racing manager confirmed My Highness’s participation on the front page of Paris Turf this week. This is not a speculative entry. This is a deliberate, fully prepared assault on a Classic.
The jockey booking sealed it for us. Oisin Murphy, champion jockey, won this race in 2023 aboard Mawj in Godolphin royal blue for Saeed bin Suroor. Fabre moved quickly to secure him the moment his availability was confirmed. Murphy knows what it takes to win the 1,000 Guineas for this team, and he does not ride short priced horses for a living. He rides horses he believes in.
The historical precedent for this race is unambiguous. The average winning price over the last twenty four renewals is 12/1. Fifteen of the last twenty four winners came from entirely outside the top three in the market. Seven winners this century have broken their pattern race duck right here, in the Classic itself. My Highness sits in exactly the price range that this race has historically rewarded, with a profile that checks boxes that the shorter priced runners cannot, prep run taken, ran over a mile, experienced (four career starts), trained by a master who already knows the way to the Newmarket winner’s enclosure.
Precise will start favourite, and she deserves respect. But at the prices available, the smarter play is the filly who has been quietly and deliberately prepared for this moment by one of the greatest trainers the sport has produced. My Highness is the Romping Home Racing pick for the 1,000 Guineas, and at the current price of 9/1 when writing this, this is exactly where the value lives for us.
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