Royal Ascot 2015: St James’ Palace Stakes preview (16.20)

Dual Guineas winner Gleneagles look a cut above his rivals, and a worthy odds-on favourite to provide trainer Aidan O’Brien with a seventh winner of the Group 1 St James’ Palace Stakes in the feature race on day one of Royal Ascot.

The colt was a top class juvenile who put in a stunning display on his seasonal reappearance when landing the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket.

After racing in touch on the stands side, Gleneagles made smooth headway two from home to take up the running at the furlong marker and quicken clear to beat Territories by 2 1/4 lengths.

Jockey Ryan Moore never had to get serious at any stage, and the turn of foot shown by Gleneagles suggested he would be extremely difficult to beat in Group 1 mile contests during the rest of the season.

That view was confirmed when the beautifully bred son of Galileo followed up with success in the Irish equivalent at the Curragh.

The three-year-old didn’t get the clearest of passages, but showed a smart turn of foot to mow down the leaders and get up and score by 3/4 of a length.

Gleneagles was value for more than the winning margin on ground that was softer than ideal, and with underfoot conditions now perfect is going to be extremely tough to beat in the hands of jockey Ryan Moore.

Make Believe won the the French 2000 Guineas, and is a fascinating contender for trainer Andre Fabre.