The 2009 Coral-Eclipse saw a vintage renewal of the race go the way of the sensational Sea The Stars who put up a scintillating performance to hold off the challenge of the ultra-talented Rip Van Winkle and dual-Breeders Cup Turf winner Conduit.
888Sport are offering new customers a remarkable £20 no-lose bet on the Coral-Eclipse. Sign up with the firm through Racingbase and stake £20 on the race. If your bet loses, the firm will refund your stake.
While this year’s version of the Sandown showpiece seems to lack a genuine superstar like Sea The Stars or Rip Van Winkle, it still looks a truly competitive Group One featuring some proven top level performers.
Though disappointing, it is also understandable that Sir Michael Stoute has not entered his record-breaking Derby winner Workforce in a race that has often proved a graveyard for Epsom heroes. Sea The Stars proved last year that only the greatest can take in the Classic followed by the Eclipse and with a drop in trip not necessarily in Workforce’s favour, it is easy to see why Stoute is focusing on tackling what looks set to be an enthralling King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
Twice Over is the favourite to capitalize on the absence of Workforce and taste Group One glory for the second time in his career. Currently the 3.25 (2.25/1) favourite for the race with 888Sport, he will be looking to add the Eclipse to his victory in last season’s Champion Stakes. Henry Cecil’s five-year-old almost added the Prince Of Wales to his CV at last month’s Royal Ascot but was denied by French raider Byword after getting shuffled down the pack in the first couple of furlongs.
He is a worthy favourite but faces formidable opposition in the shape of Dubai Sheema Classic winner Dar Re Mi, the 3.50 second favourite with 888Sport.
John Gosden’s five-year-old mare rapidly improved last season to become the best of her sex in Europe and victories in the Pretty Polly, Yorkshire Oaks and Prix Vermeille (a race she later lost in the stewards’ room to Stacelita) meant she was sent to Dubai as a force to be reckoned with. With the likes of Japanese sensation Buena Vista, Spanish Moon and Cavalryman all behind her, her Sheema Classic victory is probably her greatest achievement to date.
She must now build on that and punters will fear that dropping down in trip for the first time in a year may not necessarily suit the mare, though all her form over 1m2f has been of the highest order.
While Dar Re Mi drops back in trip, Sir Michael Stoute’s Zacinto moves into the unknown and steps up in distance for the first time in his career. 5.00 third favourite with 888Sport, Zacinto has always been full of promise and flashes of brilliance (most notably when chasing home Rip Van Winkle in last year’s QEII) have been as common as his tendency to fluff his lines on the big stage. Dismal displays in the Breeders’ Cup Mile and Lockinge Stakes were not his true running and he looked right back to his best when chasing home Goldikova and Paco Boy in last month’s Queen Anne Stakes. Stoute is confident that a step up to 1m2f will be right up Zacinto’s street and his followers will be hoping that the legendary trainer can conjure his magic with the precocious talent.
Looking to spoil the party will be Marcus Tregnoning’s Mawatheeq (8.00, 888 Sport) who is expected to come on a long way from his rusty performance at Royal Ascot and Aidan O’Brien’s gutsy performer Viscount Nelson (8.00, 888Sport) who will relish a battle in a thoroughly intriguing renewal of the Coral-Eclipse.
