Coroebus confirmed his rising star status with victory in the St James’s Palace Stakes on the opening day of Royal Ascot 2022 – but it wasn't all plain sailing for the 10-11 favourite.
The Charlie Appleby-trained three-year-old son of Dubawi followed up his the QIPCO 2,000 Guineas victory at Newmarket last month with another in Berkshire, under Liverpool FC fan William Buick.
Coroebus had come out on top at Headquarters against the previously unbeaten Godolphin stable-mate Native Trail, who went on to win the Tattersalls Irish 2,000 Guineas at the Curragh. And he showed he continues to improve with the latest success but for the first time on a turning track on the round course at Ascot, he had to work hard for victory.
Under Buick, Coreobus sat just off the pace set chiefly by Lusail (28-1). But after the turn he found himself behind a few horses and looking for a gap. But taking the brave route down the rail, the gap opened up and the three-year-old colt moved through as five horses fanned across the track on the charge for home.
Coreobus just held on by a head from Lusail. But less than a length separated the first five home with the fast-finishing My Prospero (4-1) a short head back in third, Maljoom another neck down in fourth and Mighty Ulysses (11-2) – who had been second in the Silver Bowl Handicap at Haydock Park last month – a head away in fifth.
Having only had four runs Coroebus could now face a clash of the generations – against fellow Royal Ascot scorer Baaeed, who maintained his unbeaten record with victory in the Queen Anne Stakes earlier on the opening day, in the Sussex Stakes at Glorious Goodwood.
Baaeed is Skybet's 8-15 favourite with Coroebus available at 3-1 with Paddy Power.
Appleby said: "The key thing today and I said to William, 'just get that position and don't lose it'.
"Therefore he was always just having to keep the revs under him and in doing so the horse got keener and keener, I just think it paid in the last 100 yards.
"If we want to roll it back to his two-year-old career in the Royal Lodge, he shot clear and paid in those last few yards; you've got to sit and you've to count to 10 and wait and William gave him a fantastic ride around there. It is the reason why he probably wasn't winning as impressively as you might like to have seen.
"It is going to be a big learning curve for him today, I was delighted with how he took it in the preliminaries - he has never been more than 20 minutes up the road out of Newmarket and those challenges have been put upon him and he has ticked the boxes."
He added: "The Sussex Stakes is a race that we have spoken about beforehand, that we'd potentially like to see Coroebus take on Baaeed. It is always a fantastic race, isn't it? The Sussex Stakes – the older horses and the three-year-olds taking each other on, and we were confident (beforehand) that we'd hopefully be doing that on the back of today. I think that is still very much in the conversation.
"As always we'll let the dust settle, and the discussions with His Highness (Sheikh Mohammed) and the team and we'll firm those plans up. On the evidence of what I have seen today he deserves to be there for sure.
"Baaeed was a very impressive winner, taking nothing away from him, but this was just our horse's fifth start of his career, and I thought it was a gutsy performance in a race that probably wasn't run particularly to suit us."
Winning jockey Buick added: "You have to enjoy these good horses and I'm privileged to get on these good horses, but at the same time it's a case of getting the job done.
"It was one of those races where it was tricky. He had a good draw, but a good draw can turn into a bad draw very quickly. He travelled so strong and I just wanted him to drop his head.
"In the straight I had no option to go when I did and I got a lovely run through. He's a very good horse.
"You are supposed to enjoy it but you do want to get the job done."
