St James's Palace Stakes: Appleby confident Pinatubo can return to sizzling best

3.00 AscotSt James's Palace Stakes (Group 1) | 1m | 3yo colts | ITV/SKY

Charlie Appleby is refusing to be downbeat about Pinatubo's Qipco 2,000 Guineas defeat, insisting any improvement from Newmarket will make his juvenile sensation the one to beat in the St James's Palace Stakes.

Although 2,000 Guineas winner Kameko is not in attendance, Pinatubo, who was awarded a rating higher than Frankel for his unbeaten two-year-old campaign, still has to find a length on neck runner-up Wichita.

Appleby said: "Naturally, you are always disappointed when you lose that unbeaten tag but he improved with each run last year. Any improvement going forward from the Guineas and they have got him to beat.

"It was not as if he finished a well-held fifth or sixth in the Guineas. He went down by a length and a quarter against two very nice horses.

"We've got the champion two-year-old and I'm confident he's up where we need him to be and that he will go into the race in good order."

Pinatubo was only given the all-clear to run after passing a stalls test on Newmarket Heath last week. Appleby opted to take a 'ticket' to have Pinatubo loaded late in the Guineas, the third time he has done so in a year which triggered the test.

Although this season has a very different look to it, a positive for Pinatubo and Wichita is that plenty of St James's Palace winners were beaten in the Guineas, including Barney Roy, Kingman and Canford Cliffs in the last ten years.

Aidan O'Brien, who has won the mile contest eight times in 20 years, runs three from the Newmarket Classic headed by Wichita.

What they say

Aidan O'Brien, trainer of Wichita, Arizona and Royal Dornoch
We have been very happy with Wichita and everything has gone well with him since. Arizona more or less the same and Royal Dornoch as well. Arizona and Royal Dornoch didn't get into the Guineas but it was their first run of the season and sometimes that can happen. Arizona might have been trapped in there a little bit and Royal Dornoch just didn't get involved. Wichita ran well in the Guineas and he seems to be very well since.

John Gosden, trainer of Palace Pier
If he handles the ground I expect him to run a big race but it's a big if. We purposely avoided the 2,000 Guineas as he was coming back from an injury and he won nicely at Newcastle. Obviously, he's now up in class but he's pleased us at home since.

Positive (Adam Kirby, nearside) defeated Kameko in the Solario Stakes last yearCredit: Mark Cranham

Clive Cox, trainer of Positive
We were thrilled with his two-year-old campaign and he's done especially well over the winter. He didn't quite produce in the Dewhurst what he'd shown before. We're running on ground on the easy side again and we hope he can cope with it. His win in the Solario at Sandown [over Kameko] is looking better all the time. He's very talented and definitely up to Group 1 standard.

Richard Hannon, trainer of Threat
Our main thinking for going straight to the St James’s Palace was to go for the flat track. I just hope he stays the mile. He's quite keen sometimes when he works. I think to a certain extent that he will have an advantage over those horses who have just run in the Guineas 14 days previously.

Get £30 in free bets when you sign up to a new Sky Bet account and place a £5 bet. Details of the offer are in the image above. Click here to take advantage of the offer