Some horse races are memorable because of the dramatic nature of the finish, some are memorable because of the wider ramifications of the result, in terms of the history of the race, itself, or the records of the horses, or connections, involved and some are memorable for a combination of the above. The 1,000 Guineas, run, as ever, on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket, on May 3, 2024, fell into the latter category. Victory for the largely unconsidered Elmalka, a Kingman filly owned by
Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum and trained by Roger Varian, was the first in a British Classic for Brazilian-born jockey Silvestre de Sousa, but was achieved in desperate, last-gasp fashion.
Elmalka had won on her debut, despite running green, in a lowly novice stakes race at Southwell the previous November, but left that promising effort some way behind when a rallying third, beaten just a neck and the same, in the Group 3 Fred Darling Stakes, over seven furlongs, at Newbury on the first start of her three-year-old campaign. Drawn in stall 16 of 16 at Newmarket, Elmalka did herself few favours by missing the break, but having raced in last place, made good headway heading into the downhill penultimate furlong and, although briefly unbalanced heading out of ‘The Dip’, ran on strongly in the closing stages. She eventually caught the front-running Ramatuelle a stride or two from the line, as did the second-placed Porta Fortuna, to win by a neck in a driving finish. Ramatuelle finished third, a further short-head away, the eyecatching Tamfana fourth and Ylang Ylang in a race where the the first five home were covered by just a length.
Thus, Elmalka became the third British Classic winner for Varian, who had previously won the St. Leger twice, with Kingston Hill in 2014 and Eldar Eldarov in 2022. She had three more starts in 2024, all in Group 1 company, but failed to trouble the judge in any of them. In fact, she finished fourth in all three, the Coronation Stakes (behind Porta Fortuna), the Nassau Stakes and the Sun Chariot Stakes (behind Tamfana).