See the fields: England's classics begin with 2,000 Guineas

The British Championship Series gets underway without spectators this weekend at Newmarket Racecourse, with the Coronation Cup (G1) for older horses on Friday, the 2000 Guineas (G1) for 3-year-olds on Saturday and the 1000 Guineas (G1) for 3-year-old fillies on Sunday. Post time for each race is 10:35 a.m. ET.

Here's a look at the fields...

Coronation Cup

Going 1 1/2 miles on turf, this event usually is run at Epsom but was moved because of a delay caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The seven-horse field will feature the return of Stradivarius, winner of 10 straight Group 1 or Group 2 races before finishing second in his last start, the British Champions Long Distance in October. The 6-year-old son of Sea the Stars is trained by John Gosden.

Anthony Van Dyck, winner of last year’s Epsom Derby, looks for his second Group 1 score for trainer Aidan O’Brien. The 4-year-old son of Galileo finished third in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Turf before wrapping up the year with a 12th-place effort in the Hong Kong Vase (G1) at Sha Tin.

Last year’s Coronation Cup winner, Defoe, also returns to defend his title. Trained by Roger Varian, the 6-year-old gelded son of Dalakhani was last seen finishing second in the Dubai City of Gold (G2) in March.

2,000 Guineas

The field for Saturday’s classic has been narrowed to 15 declarations.

Pinatubo, who went 6-for-6 as a 2-year-old, makes his sophomore debut Saturday in the one-mile turf race. The son of Shamardal, a Godolphin homebred trained by Charlie Appleby, is adding distance in this spot off a hyped juvenile campaign that garnered him comparisons to the great Frankel.

Trainer Aidan O’Brien will be represented by four entries, including Arizona, who hasn’t won since scoring in the Coventry Stakes (G2) in June, with second- and third-place efforts behind Pinatubo.

O’Brien also is expected to start Wichita, a lightly raced son of No Nay Never who won the Tattersalls Stakes (G3) in September at Newcastle.

1,000 Guineas

A day before declarations are made, 17 fillies remain in contention for Sunday’s one-mile test led by unbeaten Quadrilateral. The daughter of Frankel, trained by Roger Charlton, began her racing career in August and won the Fillies Mile (G1) at Newcastle in October.

Her foes in the one-mile turf race 3-year-old fillies likely will include the O'Brien-trained Love, winner of the Moyglare Stud Stakes (G1) and a third-place finisher in the Fillies Mile in her last effort, and Millisle, who won her most recent race, the Cheveley Park Stakes (G1) in September.