A walkover won by an unnamed jockey sums up the start of Newmarket's Classics

If there is any one race that best sums up the early years of the two Newmarket Classics it is the 1825 1,000 Guineas, in that it was a race without a race in which the identity of the only participating jockey is not even known. A classic Classic it was not.

Had one been around at the time, it is highly unlikely the term "Classic" would even have been heard, given no such description of the 1,000 and 2,000 Guineas, Derby, Oaks and St Leger had at that point been invented.

Nevertheless, on the day in 1825 when Tontine strode to glory at Newmarket, the jewels in the crowns of Epsom and Doncaster were at least big deals. The 1,000 and 2,000 Guineas were primarily stepping stones to Epsom, although a look through the early results makes it obvious not many horses were stepping on those stones.