Appleby delighted as Native Trail returns but Coroebus going straight to Guineas

Ante-post Qipco 2,000 Guineas favourite Native Trail will face six rivals as he makes his seasonal reappearance at Newmarket in the Group 3 bet365 Craven Stakes (3.35) on Wednesday.

The dual Group 1-winning colt is bidding to extend his unbeaten record to five and set himself up for the Guineas at the end of the month, for which he leads the market at a general 11-4.

Charlie Appleby and William Buick combined with another Godolphin-owned representative Master Of The Seas to take this £80,000 contest last year and Native Trail, who is 2-2 at the track having landed the Dewhurst and Superlative in his two-year-old season, is odds-on to provide the duo with their third win in the last four runnings of the race.

bet365 Craven Stakes: full racecard and betting

Appleby also saddled the second home last year but will not be repeating the feat as Native Trail's stablemate and closest rival in the Guineas betting market Coroebus was not declared and will instead head straight to the Guineas without a prep run, the Godolphin trainer revealed via Twitter on Monday.

Appleby said: "Work went very well over the weekend with Native Trail and Coroebus. Native Trail has been declared for the Craven and I couldn’t be any happier with him, I’m looking forward to seeing him out.

"With respects to Coroebus, after a collective decision over the course of the weekend we’ve decided we’ll go straight to the Qipco 2,000 Guineas."

Native Trail: bids to continue the fine recent record in the race of William Buick and Charlie ApplebyCredit: Edward Whitaker

Native Trail's principal challenge will come from the William Haggas-trained Al Mubhir, who had five subsequent winners in behind him when making a winning debut in a maiden at Newmarket in October.

Tom Marquand will take over from Buick in the saddle while Adam Kirby takes the ride on the Jane Chapple-Hyam-trained Claymore, who has course form in the book having beaten the Buick-ridden subsequent winner Noble Order on his debut in a novice event.

Also coming into the race off the back of an October debut win is Star Of India, who will bid to give Aidan O'Brien a first win in a race that has so far eluded the Ballydoyle trainer. Unlike O'Brien, Ryan Moore has won this race on three occasions and he takes the ride.

The line-up is completed by the hat-trick seeking Zechariah, last-time-out Listed runner-up Hoo Ya Mal and Kingmax, who made a winning stable debut for David Loughnane at Kempton last month.

Meanwhile Ebro River, who finished third behind Native Trail two starts back in the Vincent O'Brien National Stakes at the Curragh, makes his own seasonal reappearance in the Connaught Access Flooring Abernant Stakes (3.00), the other Group 3 on Wednesday's Newmarket card.

A Group 1 winner as a two-year-old last season, the Phoenix Stakes winner will hope to make it third time lucky at Newmarket with former champion jockey Jamie Spencer taking the ride for the first time.

Jumby, Double Or Bubble, Bellosa and Existent all have course wins in the book and could thwart Hugo Palmer's market leader who is the joint-youngest in the eight-runner field along with Last Crusader.

Christophe Soumillon is booked to maintain the partnership on last year's Prix Morny and Middle Park winner Perfect Power in Saturday's Watership Down Stud Too Darn Hot Greenham Stakes at Newbury (3.00).

His rivals could include Gimcrack scorer Lusail and dual top-level winner Angel Bleu, while Wild Beauty, Sharaa and Jumbly feature in 13 entries for the Dubai Duty Free Stakes, registered as the Fred Darling Stakes (2.25).

Craven Stakes runners and riders

Al Mubhir Tom Marquand
Claymore Adam Kirby
Hoo Ya Mal Marco Ghiani
Kingmax Rossa Ryan
Native Trail William Buick
Star Of India Ryan Moore
Zechariah Rob Hornby

bet365 Craven Stakes (3.35 Newmarket, Wednesday)

bet365: 4-11 Native Trail, 9 Star Of India, 11 Claymore, Hoo Ya Mal, 16 Al Mubhir, Zechariah, 33 Kingmax

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