2000 Guineas report | Coroebus leads home Charlie Appleby one-two at Newmarket

It was the second-string horse in the white cap under James Doyle that travelled the best in a top-class renewal, the 5/1 chance quickening clear out of the dip after tanking through the contest.

Native Trail, sent off the 5/4 favourite, ran a great race in second under William Buick, with Luxembourg, outpaced at an early stage, running on strongly for third at 9/2 for Aidan O'Brien.

The favourite proved his well-being with a comprehensive victory in the Craven Stakes two and a half weeks ago weeks ago, while Coroebus was making his first competitive appearance since winning the Autumn Stakes over the course and distance in early October.

With the pair drawn on opposite sides of the track, they raced wide apart for much of the straight-mile contest, with William Buick the first to get vigorous aboard Native Trail nearest the stands side.

James Doyle, on the other hand, was able to wait until the furlong marker to pop Coroebus the question and he found plenty racing out of the dip to prevail by three-quarters of a length.

Having been under a ride from an early stage, Aidan O’Brien’s Derby favourite Luxembourg made eyecatching late gains to finish best of the rest in third.

Appleby told ITV Racing: “I’m delighted, delighted for the whole team and most importantly His Highness Sheikh Mohammed and Team Godolphin.

“Coroebus is a homebred and by Dubawi and I’d like to think I know the Dubawis by now – I’ve had enough of of them through my hands – and he’s shown us all the right signs.

“It was always going to be hard call for William to get off Native Trail and get on him and it’s great for James, who is an integral part of the team and for him to have his first English Classic winner is fantastic. For us to be able to provide it is even more special.

“I don’t think William will have any excuses – he was potentially beaten by a better horse. I could see James was travelling for fun and that’s what this horse does – they can’t go quick enough for him.”

He added: “I think we’ll potentially try to keep them apart, to be brutally honest – it would be a shame for them to keep butting heads.

“On the evidence of what we’ve seen today they are the two best three-year-old colts around to date and after healthy discussions we might say one could go to Ireland (for the Irish Guineas) and the other one could go straight to the St James’s Palace (at Royal Ascot).”

Incredible feeling for Doyle

Doyle said: “It’s incredible that Charlie hasn’t won this race before the way things are going, isn’t it? I’m super proud of Charlie and for once, I’m actually emotional about a big winner.

“This race has been something that has always annoyed me, looking at replays over and over again of Kingman’s Guineas and Barney Roy’s Guineas, and then it goes as simple as it did today.

“Full credit to Charlie. He’s an incredible man and an incredible man to learn from – it’s honestly a privilege to work for him.”

He added: “William came up to me afterwards and said ‘you deserve that one’. We’re the best of friends and he could see I was a little bit emotional.

“It’s tough out there as we’re competing day in day out and we sit next to each other, but it’s been that way for about 15 years.”

David Cleary, Timeform on-the-spot analysis

A first Classic of the season which delivered just about all it promised, the returning Coroebus three-quarters of a length too good for the favourite and his stable-companion Native Trial, with the Futurity winner Luxembourg a shade better than the result in third. A winner unlucky not to be unbeaten, prevailing from a pair that were to this point. The form has a rock-solid look to it, well up to the standard of most runnings of the race in the last decade.

The race was run at a sound gallop, the field racing as one up the centre of the track, and although Native Trail was a little isolated on the near-side wing, he essentially just lacked the pace of Coroebus at a crucial stage.

Coroebus looked in the pink beforehand, still as imposing as he was at two, and was a little more relaxed than Native Trail, who was somewhat fussy. Both hold Derby entries but both are highly unlikely to go to Epsom, set to be campaigned for the time being at a mile, enough options to keep them apart, likely to be a threat to the best of the older contingent.

Luxembourg, who stumbled soon after the start, had to work to get in a challenging position and then lacked the foot of the first two. He is a much more plausible Derby candidate, with definite prospects of improving over middle distances.

Just behind in fourth was Eydon, much less highly tried to this point than the first three. He is a really imposing sort and will surely learn from this first outing in the big league – he'll win good races this summer.

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