Cracking Coral-Eclipse in prospect on Saturday

Can the only three-year-old in the race, Mars, make an impact in Saturday’s Coral-Eclipse? Image courtesy of racingfotos.com.

A re-match between Al Kazeem and Mukhadram, who were separated by just a neck at the finishing post at the end of a pulsating Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot last month, is just one of the fascinating aspects of the Coral-Eclipse Stakes at Sandown Park this Saturday.

Race four in the Middle Distance division of the QIPCO British Champions Series could also see Camelot return to the fray after his disappointing run in the same Royal Ascot race and one can be sure that his trainer, Aidan O’Brien, has not lost faith in the winner of last year’s QIPCO 2000 Guineas, Investec Derby and Irish Derby.

O’Brien has also left Declaration Of War, the brilliant winner of the Queen Anne Stakes over a mile at Royal Ascot, in the race, but he is very unlikely to run.

Much more likely is O’Brien’s third entry, Mars, the only three-year-old in the line-up.

After very encouraging runs in the QIPCO 2000 Guineas (staying on strongly over a mile), Investec Derby (hampered at a crucial point and could otherwise have gone close over a mile and a half) and the St James’s Palace Stakes (again stayed on well late in the day to take third over a mile), the mile and a quarter of the Coral-Eclipse could be right up his street.

The Fugue, who came from the back of the field to take third in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes, has over three lengths to make up on Al Kazeem and Mukhadram, but that was her first run of the season and she is sure to have improved since then.

German challenger Pastorius, who finished fourth to Frankel in last year’s QIPCO Champion Stakes and who won on his seasonal debut in France, taking the Group 1 Prix Ganay at Longchamp, has to be feared as well, while the other possible contender, Miblish, has a lot to find on the form book.

The final declarations will be made on Thursday morning for Sandown Park’s Flat racing highlight.