The winner of the Coral-Eclipse Stakes could be determined by how well the contenders take their racing. Six of the seven runners were engaged at Royal Ascot just over a fortnight ago, whilst the seventh, Pastorius, was running in Singapore in mid-May. Have the horses recovered from their races and can they deliver another full-blooded performance?
Aidan O’Brien has said of Declaration Of War that he “is in good form, he came out of Ascot well.” But he added: "Going a mile and a quarter at the top level is different. We should learn a lot about him for the rest of the year. It's very sharp after Ascot.”
Speaking to At The Races, Al Kazeem’s trainer Roger Charlton explained: "There are no rules [as to how fast horses recover]. Ideally you would probably want three weeks, but the fact is there is only 17 days and it is hard to tell. He's in good form and I think he's recovered, but who knows. The Fugue and Mukhadram all ran in the same race [at Royal Ascot], so it will be interesting to see how they compare.”
John Gosden is more upbeat about his charge The Fugue, the only filly in the race: "She did it all fine at Ascot and you'd expect her to come on for the run. The race has brought her on and we expect her to run well."
The Fugue was left with too much to do at Ascot, when trying to catch Mukhadram and eventual winner Al Kazeem. If Paul Hanagan tries to steal a lead on his rivals again this time they must surely be quicker to respond this time and William Buick will have to have The Fugue better positioned to cover the move. With Ascot being the filly’s first run of the season, there should be some improvement to come from that race.
Pastorius was poor in the International Cup in Singapore but trainer Mario Hofer believes the performance can be discounted and the horse finished the race with cuts to his front legs. Pastorius is the only horse to have had a good break since his last race and that could give him an edge over his rivals. He is a Group 1 winner and a double-figure price looks too tempting given his experience. Good ground is no problem for him but good to firm going is more of an unknown.
The selections are The Fugue (4/1 with Skybet) and Pastorius (10/1 with Skybet).
