Southwell and Kempton highlight virtues of all-weather tracks after Elmalka and Notable Speech pull off historic Guineas double

Southwell and Kempton have hailed the importance of winter all-weather racing after Guineas winners Notable Speech and Elmalka both began their careers on artificial surfaces.

Notable Speech did not race until victorious on the Polytrack at Kempton in late January and struck twice more at the track before his brilliant 2,000 Guineas success at the weekend. Elmalka, who landed the 1,000 Guineas a day later, won on her first outing on Southwell's Tapeta surface in November 2023.

Lucarno, the 2007 St Leger winner, 2008 Leger hero Conduit and 2009 1,000 Guineas heroine Ghanaati are among the British Classic winners who recorded their first wins on the all-weather, along with Enable, who made a successful Tapeta debut at Newcastle in November 2016 before going on to Oaks glory. Irish Derby winner Jack Hobbs scored at Wolverhampton in December 2014.