Enable and Cracksman among Coronation Cup entries

Enable lit up last season when winning five Group 1 races. Picture: Racingfotos.com

Enable and Cracksman feature among 25 star-studded entries for the Investec Coronation Cup at Epsom on June 1.

John Gosden, trainer of the pair, has indicated that Enable could make her eagerly awaited reappearance reappearance in the QIPCO British Champions Series contest.

Last summer she won five Group 1 races, including the Investec Oaks at Epsom – one of three wins in the Champions Series for her.

Cracksman’s exploits last term included a runaway win in the QIPCO Champion Stakes at Ascot in October, at the main expense of Poet’s Word.

The latter chased home Hawkbill in the Dubai Sheema Classic at Meydan last month and seems likely to try and provide Sir Michael Stoute with a sixth Investec Coronation Cup success following on from Saddlers’ Hall (1992), Opera House (1993), Singspiel (1997), Daliapour (2000) and Ask (2009).

Bruce Raymond, racing manager for owner Saeed Suhail, said: “The Investec Coronation Cup is an obvious race for Poet’s Word.

“He has the Jockey Club Stakes (at Newmarket on May 5) as a potential starting point in Europe for the season, although he has just come back from Dubai and sometimes it can take a bit out of a horse.

“I thought that a mile and a half would be his best trip, but he has proven equally effective over a mile and a quarter – I think he could have won the Irish Champion Stakes with a better draw.

“He is a very progressive horse for a five-year-old and we feel that he can improve on his run out in Dubai.”

The Group 1 Coronation Cup is worth a record £420,000 in 2018, up 5 per cent on last year.

Aidan O’Brien won the 1m4f feature with Highland Reel last year and his entries include Cliffs Of Moher, the Investec Derby runner-up; Capri, the Irish Derby and William Hill St Leger winner; plus Hydrangea and Order Of St George – both winners on Champions Day in October.

Andre Fabre, seeking a seventh win in the race, has three contenders including Godolphin’s Talismanic, successful in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar in November.

Frontiersman and Dubai Sheema Classic victor Hawkbill, who were second and third behind Highland Reel last year, could also return for another tilt.

Full Entries:

BARSANTI (IRE), BEST SOLUTION (IRE), CAP’N (IRE), CAPRI (IRE), CLIFFS OF MOHER (IRE), CLOTH OF STARS (IRE), CRACKSMAN, DURETTO, ENABLE, FRONTIERSMAN, HAWKBILL (USA), HYDRANGEA (IRE), IDAHO (IRE), KHALIDI, MASTER THE WORLD (IRE), MOVE UP, ORDER OF ST GEORGE (IRE), POET’S WORD (IRE), RARE RHYTHM, RED GALILEO, SALOUEN (IRE), TALISMANIC, WALDGEIST, WINDSTOSS (GER), YUCATAN (IRE).