Ground Key To Pretend's Temple Bid

The Charlie Appleby-trained four-year-old was one of the stars of the British All-Weather season over the winter, winning five times including when gaining an emphatic length success in the £150,000 Unibet All-Weather Sprint Championships Final over six furlongs on Polytrack at Lingfield Park on April 3.

He also succeeded on Polytrack at Lingfield Park when storming home from the rear to take the five-furlong Listed Unibet Hever Sprint Stakes impressively on March 14 and gained three wins on Tapeta at Wolverhampton, including a comfortable success under top-weight in a six-furlong handicap on March 7.The son of Invincible Spirit has raced once on turf, coming home seventh in the Meydan Classic Trial over seven furlongs on good ground at Meydan, UAE, in February, 2014.

William Buick, who partnered Pretend to victory in the Unibet All-Weather Sprint Championships Final, is in the saddle again.Charlie Appleby said: "Pretend has had a nice break since his latest start and I have been delighted with his preparation.

"The one thing I am concerned about is the ground. We have declared him on good to soft and I am hoping that it dries out a bit - if there is any more rain then it is highly unlikely that he will run."He is in good place at the moment and I want him to have a good experience ahead of the King's Stand Stakes (G1, 5f, Royal Ascot, June 16).

"I think that running him on the wrong ground wouldn't be the best preparation for Royal Ascot."He's a different horse compared to his only previous start on turf. We were training him to be a seven-furlong or mile horse at the start of his three-year-old career but he is a sprinter now and a strongly-run five furlongs should be ideal."

Pretend, drawn five, lines up against 11 others including Haydock Park Group One winner G Force, last year's victor Hot Streak and recent Newmarket Group Three scorer Goldream.