{"id":292087,"date":"2025-07-26T01:53:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-26T01:53:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/292087\/"},"modified":"2025-07-26T01:53:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-26T01:53:15","slug":"the-historic-weight-of-the-2000-guineas-and-the-challenge-of-completing-the-polla-double","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/292087\/","title":{"rendered":"The Historic Weight of the 2000 Guineas and the Challenge of Completing the Polla Double"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since the Creation of the Prestigious G1 for Colts in 1980, Only Two Have Gone On to Win the Opening Leg of the Triple Crown: Gentlemen and Asidero, Both Trained by Juan C. Etchechoury Jr.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Asidero,<\/p>\n

Asidero, One of Only Two Horses to Win Both the 2000 Guineas and the Polla de Potrillos<\/strong> <\/strong>\/ ARCHIVO<\/p>\n

The path to glory for Argentina\u2019s top 3-year-old colts begins Saturday at\u00a0San Isidro<\/strong>, where the\u00a0Gran Premio Dos Mil Guineas (G1)<\/strong>\u00a0will be contested over 1600 meters on turf. For more than four decades, this prestigious race has served as the launching point for the division\u2019s second-half season, paying homage to England\u2019s famed 2000 Guineas.<\/p>\n

First run in 1980, the Dos Mil Guineas has crowned some of Argentina\u2019s most illustrious champions. Winning here signals sustained speed and significant potential\u2014though that talent does not always translate to Palermo\u2019s dirt surface for the\u00a0Gran Premio Polla de Potrillos (G1)<\/strong>\u00a0a month later. Only two horses have managed the coveted double.<\/p>\n

The first was\u00a0Gentlemen (Robin des Bois)<\/strong>, La Pomme\u2019s superstar who, under\u00a0Jacinto Herrera<\/strong>, captured both the Dos Mil Guineas and the Polla in 1995 for trainer\u00a0Juan C. Etchechoury Jr.<\/strong>\u00a0Gentlemen later added the\u00a0Gran Premio Nacional (G1)<\/strong>\u00a0before becoming one of the world\u2019s top racehorses following a stellar U.S. campaign.<\/p>\n

Another legendary double belongs to\u00a0Asidero (Fadeyev)<\/strong>\u00a0in 1999. After a dominant Dos Mil Guineas victory, he demolished his rivals in the Polla, then added the\u00a0Gran Premio Jockey Club (G1)<\/strong>\u00a0and capped his campaign with a commanding win in the\u00a0Gran Premio Carlos Pellegrini (G1)<\/strong>, earning Horse of the Year honors. Like Gentlemen, he was trained by\u00a0Etchechoury Jr.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Beyond these exceptional cases, completing the Dos Mil Guineas\u2013Polla double has proven elusive. Some trainers target either San Isidro\u2019s turf series or Palermo\u2019s dirt classics exclusively, while others are deterred by the technical demands and distinct horse profiles each venue requires. Additionally, private sales often intervene.<\/p>\n

Among the earliest Dos Mil Guineas winners were\u00a0New Dandy (New Noble, 1981)<\/strong>,\u00a0Algenib (Oak Dancer, 1990)<\/strong>,\u00a0L’Express (Un Reitre, 1991)<\/strong>, and\u00a0Chullo (Equalize, 1997)<\/strong>, each forging outstanding careers thereafter.<\/p>\n

In more recent times, names like\u00a0Suggestive Boy (Easing Along)<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Imperador (Treasure Beach)<\/strong>\u00a0lifted the trophy en route to their own historic milestones.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s edition offers another strong field, with promising young stars vying to join the honour roll. Beyond prestige and a purse of 50 million pesos, the race awards crucial qualifying points toward the\u00a0Gran Premio Jockey Club (G1)<\/strong>, the second leg of San Isidro\u2019s turf classic series.<\/p>\n

Like France\u2019s\u00a0Poule d’Essai des Poulains (G1)<\/strong>\u00a0or Ireland\u2019s\u00a02000 Guineas (G1)<\/strong>, the Gran Premio Dos Mil Guineas holds immense historical weight as the first jewel in San Isidro\u2019s traditional turf crown, later completed by the Jockey Club and Carlos Pellegrini.<\/p>\n

On Saturday,\u00a0Ardiendo (Remote)<\/strong>\u00a0will look to defend his status as San Isidro\u2019s leading turf colt following victory in the\u00a0Gran Premio Gran Criterium (G1)<\/strong>. The task is far from easy, but should he triumph, his name will echo in future retrospectives such as this.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Since the Creation of the Prestigious G1 for Colts in 1980, Only Two Have Gone On to Win…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":292088,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4107],"tags":[1071,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-292087","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-racing","8":"tag-racing","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114917042180834608","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=292087"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292087\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/292088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=292087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=292087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=292087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}