Royal Ascot: Coroebus shades St James's Palace Stakes

Coroebus was made to pull out all the stops to supplement his 2000 Guineas triumph with victory in a thrilling renewal of the St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot.

The Dubawi colt narrowly denied esteemed stablemate Native Trail when providing trainer Charlie Appleby with a first victory in the colts’ Classic on the Rowley Mile.

And with Native Trail having since bounced back to winning ways in the Irish 2,000 Guineas, Coroebus was unsurprisingly cramped odds to double his tally for the season as the 10-11 favourite.

Drawn low in stall two, the fear beforehand was whether the three-year-old would get boxed in behind the pacemakers – and for a moment turning in his supporters would have been sweating.

But the gap came for William Buick’s mount against the far rail with a furlong and a half to run, at which stage it looked like he would pick up and win comfortably.

However, Lusail refused to go down without a fight and My Prospero and Mighty Ulysses were both in there pitching to set up a grandstand finish.

In the end Coroebus found just enough for pressure to hold on by a head from Lusail, with My Prospero third and Maljoom coming from the clouds to finish a close-up fourth after being denied a clear run.

A close finish but COROEBUS wins the St James's Palace Stakes under William Buick. pic.twitter.com/FmGsuF2u8d

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