'We've got them to beat' - Appleby respects 2,000 Guineas big guns as Noble Style and Silver Knott work out

Charlie Appleby put two of his Qipco 2,000 Guineas entries through their paces on the Rowley Mile on Thursday morning but is not underestimating their task of beating proven Group 1 winners Auguste Rodin and Chaldean on May 6.

William Buick partnered the unbeaten Gimcrack winner Noble Style, who is a general 8-1 shot for the Classic, in a seven-furlong exercise with the handsome grey Highland Avenue, but he will be going into unknown territory when he returns to the Rowley Mile as he has yet to race beyond six furlongs.

The pair were followed in a similar exercise by Silver Knott (James Doyle), who came out of the dip in good fashion, just as he did when winning the Group 3 Autumn Stakes at the track last October, to master his lead horse Victory Dance.

Appleby, who had a 1-2 in the 2,000 Guineas with Coroebus and Native Trail a year ago, said: "Both horses worked well but this time last year we were standing here with two rock-solid chances.

"They both deserve to be in the race and won't look out of place, and they should hopefully run solid races. They don't have the profile of an Auguste Rodin or Chaldean, who have already done it on a big stage, so we've got them to beat rather than the other way around."

Noble Style was unbeaten in his three juvenile starts and Appleby had originally hoped to start him off at Newbury on Saturday.

He said: "We would've liked to have gone to a Greenham Stakes on a sound surface with Noble Style, but this will have brought him on and we'll see big improvements from here onwards. He'll be going up two furlongs to a mile in the Guineas but you don't if he'll stay until you try him at that level."

He added: "He's three from three and is a profile horse, but in his work he has a peacocky head carriage, which we've tried to drop through the winter."

Appleby also seemed positive about the chances of Silver Knott, a general 16-1 chance for the Newmarket Classic, who was last seen being just touched off in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Keeneland last November.

He said: "Silver Knott is a professional. For me, he has a great profile coming into a Guineas in that he travels and he picks up. James Doyle said he's not electric, he doesn't really quicken, but he keeps lengthening and sees the mile out well."

He added: "I questioned how he'd take going to America but he surprised me how he took to it and whilst not taking anything away from Noble Style, who's unbeaten, Silver Knott has the edge for me."

Qipco 2,000 Guineas (4.40 Newmarket, May 6)

Coral: 11-4 Auguste Rodin, 5 Little Big Bear, Chaldean, 7 Sakheer, 8 Noble Style, 14 Royal Scotsman, Silver Knott, 16 Slipofthepen, 20 Majestic Pride, 25 Al Riffa, Canberra Legend, Indestructible, Knight, Naval Power, Streets Of Gold, 33 bar

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