3 minute read

Pinatubo had claims to be the season's leading two-year-old to this point, and he can be regarded as the clear no.1 after a spectacular triumph in the £200,000 G2 Qatar Vintage Stakes.

Bred by Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin operation, and trained for it by Charlie Appleby, Pinatubo followed up his victory in Royal Ascot's Listed Chesham Stakes with a runaway victory on the Sussex Downs, beating a classy field hollow. Sent off the 6/4 favourite he won by five lengths and five lengths from the Clive Cox-trained Positive (12/1) and Lope Y Fernandez (9/2), from Aidan O'Brien's stable. Pinatubo , who is a son of Darley stallion Shamardal [who won this race in 2004], beat Lope Y Fernandez by three and a quarter lengths at Royal Ascot, so to increase that margin three-fold was highly impressive.

 After a post-race debrief from winning jockey James Doyle, Appleby said: "You can see from watching him walk around that he's a laid-back character. He's like an old horse.

 "I said to Giuseppe, who rides him every day, 'Will he be alright on this ground?' and he said 'No problem'. You really can't get excited watching him on the gallops in the mornings, but it's what he does in the afternoons on the racecourse that is so special.

 "As James said, "I just wheeled him out there [to take up the running], and when I did he came sharply back on the bridle and just wanted to go forward, so I let him". We've seen acceleration on his three most recent starts - when you think of what he did at Epsom, when a horse got loose on the front end and was always going to come back, but he showed great acceleration that day and again at Royal Ascot.

"Going forward I'll speak to His Highness, Sheikh Mohammed, about plans, and we thought we might have been a bit bold coming here, but the [G1] National Stakes [at the Curragh, September 15] is probably a likely target, and from what we've seen today that should be okay.

"He's a horse who takes his racing so well, so I wouldn't want to put a bar to say that after the National we'd pull up, or that we might run him again in the Dewhurst Stakes. We'll take one step at a time, but after retiring Blue Point [who landed a G1 sprint double at Royal Ascot and is now set for a career as a Darley stallion] I've been looking for another good one, and may have found him.

"On the dam's side there's plenty of stamina - she's a Dalakhani mare - and one thing I said to James today was 'Keep it simple, let's not be clever and think we've got gears, and just let him roll along'. Box-seat him was the plan, and if they drop away let him go on, because I'm sure this horse will get a mile. He's got a good head, he relaxes and gets into a lovely rhythm."

Pinatubo is a good-looking horse and well put together, but he's not the biggest. Appleby said: "I'd rather have a good little'un than a big bad'un. Seriously, there will be some class horses out there who haven't been seen on the racecourse yet - backward, scopier types - but he has good shoulders on him and a big back end. I see no reason why he shouldn't be a three-year-old."   

James Doyle, who has ridden Pinatubo to success on all four of his career starts, said: "That was a pretty spectacular performance from Pinatubo.

"We did not go all that quick and he surprised me with how well he got into a rhythm and settled.

"Pinatubo is just a wonderful horse with a great nature. He is very quick. When you ask him to go and stretch, he really drops down and accelerates - he really showed that today.

"We were just interested to see today how Pinatubo coped with a small bit of ease in the ground and he did it very nicely. He really let down well, Charlie has brought him along nicely. Hopefully he can go on to bigger and better things and I'm sure he will."

Discussing the prospect of stepping up to a mile, Doyle continued: "He is vey fast, but he galloped all the way to the line today. Trip-wise, I'm sure he would see out a mile no problem. These top horses need a turn of foot and even if they are going up to a mile, they still need to be able to accelerate and he has that turn of pace that a good horse should possess.

"Pinatubo is not overly tall, but he has a bit of scope and range about him. I think he is a top-level horse. He started life off at Wolverhampton, but he even got us excited that day.

"He never really shows that much at home, but when he gets to the track, he brings his A game. He is a horse to be excited about and all of the top races towards the end of the season will be on his radar I imagine.

"You dream to ride horses like this and he is pretty special all right."

Unibet make Pinatubo the 7/2 favourite from 8/1 for next year's QIPCO 2000 Guineas (Saturday, May 2)

Lambourn trainer Clive Cox was upbeat about the run of Positive (12/1) run in the G2 £200,000 Qatar Vintage Stakes, despite the Dutch Art colt coming home five-lengths adrift of the 6/4 favourite and winner Pinatubo.

Cox commented: "It is the start of his journey, we have not hurried him at all. It is a huge step up from Salisbury to here, and he has confirmed our hopes that he had progressed from that run.

"He is a horse that we are excited for the future.

"Where next? We will see how he comes back first. I don't think we are in any hurry. He is a horse that we would be very keen on the Dewhurst for, but it will all depend on how he comes back from here."

Jockey Adam Kirby, added: "Obviously I am gutted to have bumped into one. I think the winner is a freak.

"I think my horse ran a great race, and he is only going to get better with time, I am absolutely delighted with him."

Ryan Moore, on board the third-placed Lope Y Fernandez, a half-brother to last year's winner, Dark Vision, said: "He ran a good race."