Ruling Court third in G1 St James’s Palace Stakes

Ruling Court failed to match the performance of his G1 2,000 Guineas victory as he finished third behind Field Of Gold and Henri Matisse in the G1 St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot on Tuesday, 17 June.

The Charlie Appleby-trained colt had finished half a length in front of Field Of Gold in the Newmarket Classic, with the runner-up re-opposing after a convincing win in the G1 Irish 2,000 Guineas. Henri Matisse, victorious in the G1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains, added further depth in one of the races of the season.

Officer and Windlord set the pace for the seven runners, with Ruling Court racing in fourth on the inside rail as Field Of Gold and Henri Matisse were held up at the rear.

Ruling Court, who had missed the G1 Derby due to good to soft ground, never looked comfortable and had to be ridden along to keep his place by William Buick at the halfway point.

The Godolphin runner appeared outpaced turning in before keeping on in the straight, staying on between beaten horses to take third, just over seven lengths behind the impressive winner.

Charlie Appleby said: “William said he was never really travelling comfortably, and obviously at this level you need to be able to get up and travel on the bridle, give your horse a breather, to try to go through those gears at the business end.

“It’s going back to where we felt we were in the spring - we felt he was a mile and a quarter horse. He won the Guineas, and we were then gung-ho to go to the Derby - I still think it was the right decision not to run on the ground.

“It’s never ideal to have to regroup and run somewhere else, but I don’t think that was our undoing today. The horse is fine and one thing we will be doing is stepping up in trip. I think it might be a bit soon to say we will be jumping on to the Eclipse, but we will be working back from the Juddmonte.”