Champion Appleby has a summer squad to savour

Charlie Appleby had a season to savour in 2021 when he was crowned champion for the first time but next comes the tricky bit: doing it all again. The master of Moulton Paddocks has set the bar high for himself but has a power-packed squad for the challenges ahead.

Adayar (the Cazoo Derby plus the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth QIPCO Stakes), Hurricane Lane (St Leger) and Creative Force (QIPCO British Champions Sprint) scooped QIPCO British Champions Series races for Appleby last year, and the trio will all be back for more in 2022.

In addition, Appleby’s older horses will include Yibir, dazzling winner of the Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf in November and a huge eye-catcher when beaten a neck on his return in the Longines Dubai Sheema Classic, plus Master Of The Seas, beaten a short head in the QIPCO 2000 Guineas, and familiar faces such as Kemari, Glorious Journey, Siskany, Al Suhail and Lazuli.

Adayar and Hurricane Lane, both sons of Frankel, will provide Appleby with two significant players for all this summer’s top middle-distance events, while Master Of The Seas could be most interesting for the top mile events such as the Al Shaqab Lockinge and Queen Anne Stakes having been gelded in late January.

Adayar will aim to defend his King George VI and Queen Elizabeth QIPCO Stakes title

The Cazoo Coronation Cup at Epsom in June is on Adayar’s agenda before he defends his King George crown. “The plan would be to start him off in the Coronation as we know he can handle the track, so he’s ticked one box, and the trip,” Appleby said. “Hopefully, we’ll look towards the King George again [after Epsom] and if we’re lucky enough to tick one of those boxes then the view will be taken by myself and the team whether to contemplate coming back in trip and taking in the Juddmonte International at York in August].”

The Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe is Hurricane Lane’s long-term objective and he will have a stack of summer options beforehand, given he proved effective between 10 and 14 furlongs last term. “He’s going to be a force to be reckoned with this year, the one thing about him is his versatility,” the trainer said.

Appleby also has much to anticipate with his three-year-olds, with the unbeaten Native Trail, the champion two-year-old last season, and the exciting Coroebus dominating the ante-post betting for the QIPCO 2000 Guineas at Newmarket on April 30. Both are set to run in trials beforehand.

“We’ll look to the Craven [at Newmarket] with Native Trail and the Greenham [at Newbury] with Coroebus,” Appleby said. “Both of them have won on the Rowley Mile so that won’t be an excuse.”

Coroebus was an impressive winner of the Emirates Autumn Stakes over a mile at Newmarket in the autumn and Appleby said: “I’m very much a Coroebus fan because I’m fortunate enough that he is by Dubawi and I feel I know how they can improve and what signs they need to show to suggest they have improved.”

Whether Native Trail or Coroebus will have the staying power for the Cazoo Derby is debatable but stamina should not be an issue for Goldspur or Hafit, who finished first and third, respectively, in the Godolphin Flying Start Zetland Stakes over 1m 2f at Newmarket in October. New London, who looked a stayer when winning on his debut at Newmarket in late October, and Walk Of Stars, emphatic winner of a maiden at Nottingham, are also among Appleby’s Derby entries.

Modern Games, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, and Wild Beauty, a Grade One winner in Canada, also shone as juveniles, while Appleby’s unraced three-year-olds to look out for include Javakheti, a half-sister to the stable’s former star Pinatubo.