Coral Eclipse 2018

tryfix

Best odds

Masar 11/8

Roaring Lion 5/2

Happily 6/1

Saxon Warrior 12/1

Forest Ranger 14/1

Cliffs Of Moher 16/1

Rostropovich 16/1

Hawkbill 25/1

Yucatan 25/1

Raymond Tusk 66/1

It's an awful pity that Poet's Word hasn't been sent here, we'll have to make do with the Derby 1st and 3rd fighting it out for favouritism.



It's very hard to get away from Masar but Godolphin horses aren't the most reliable so maybe there's some other horse staring me in the face that would be a good alternative. When O'Brien firms up his running plans all will be a lot clearer but the prices will be a lot shorter than now. Happily already has a victory over Masar from their 2yo days but Masar has definitely improved and the Jury is out on Happily's well being.

Gringo180

A shocker of a Coral Eclipse. Flat racing badly needs a super star. I would be interested in Hawksbill but you just cant forgive his last 2 runs, dont know whats gone wrong with him. Cliffs of Moher 16s he should be 100s absolute hound.

akelly02

roaring lion for me, i think he has more toe than masar and can pounce late

kiers47

I done something i rarely do for this and had the scummiest of scummy each way bets on Roaring Lion yesterday. 3 places. There will be about 5 runners, i think the bookies missed it a bit giving 3 places antepost tbh.
It was filthy. Filthy stuff. I feel a bit dirty after it tbh.

tryfix

Roaring Lion should be well primed for this and Gosden is a master trainer. He is a bit short for a horse who Masar has beaten 3 times this year, twice over a mile so it's not like Roaring Lion will outspeed Masar or outstay him up Sandown's stiff finish.

supremenovice

Still no sign of Magical or September. September would have loved this firm ground.

del roy

kiers47 wrote: »

I done something i rarely do for this and had the scummiest of scummy each way bets on Roaring Lion yesterday. 3 places. There will be about 5 runners, i think the bookies missed it a bit giving 3 places antepost tbh.
It was filthy. Filthy stuff. I feel a bit dirty after it tbh.

I was gonna suggest to get the Mrs to power wash you down but that darn water ban.

kiers47

del roy wrote: »

I was gonna suggest to get the Mrs to power wash you down but that darn water ban.

Was terrible stuff del. I was hanging my head in shame in the bookies as i was placing the bet.
I mean when you can back a 1/10 shot at a little over 1/2 even i have to strike. :pac:

kiers47

Saxon Warrior being strongly considered for this apparently. Strange one.

Mgoraf

Absolute madness

Give him a break and aim him at all the top 10f races the rest of the year. Nothing to gain from running him in this

antietam

How Ironic if the most tested stable by [BHA] not by[HRI] could win a top prize with average horses that can be sold for exorbitant false value.

kiers47

Well then. That filthy each way backfired spectacularly. 8 declared.. Granted i still think the place part will be value just not as much.

The Mig

Saxon Warrior declared

tryfix

kiers47 wrote: »

Well then. That filthy each way backfired spectacularly. 8 declared.. Granted i still think the place part will be value just not as much.

The Mig wrote: »

Saxon Warrior declared

Things are getting real now, I'm delighted that we are going to have a real race on our hands now instead of some cat and mouse farcical sprint to the line that a 4 or 5 runner race would turn out to be. I was going to have a punt on Forest Ranger to spring a surprise if there was only a few runners but this reasonably high class field means that a moderate horse will be swallowed up by at least one on form top horse.

• Some quite brilliant Derby winners have been beaten here and at short odds.

"Authorized got turned over at 4-7 in 2007, two years after Motivator had fluffed his lines at 2-5. Benny The Dip also found one too good in 1997, while 4-6 chance Erhaab could finish only third in 1994. And in 1987, Reference Point, sent off at Evens, set a fierce gallop but was unable to repel Mtoto.

Workforce won the Derby in a record time in 2010 and ran in the Eclipse a year later, only to find So You Think too strong.”

https://www.racinguk.com/news/the-coral-eclipse-history-trends-stats-and-replays-of-the-past-ten-renewals

That should worry backers of Masar, but the Derby winners that have been beaten were predominantly solid 12f types. Masar however falls into the speedier category of Derby winner such as Sea The Stars and Nashwan who both won the Guineas and Derby before triumphing here.

Masar was a good third in the 2,000, Saxon Warrior was a brilliant winner of the 2,000 and Roaring Lion showed plenty of speed in finishing fifth in the 2,000 and in most of his other races he's shown great bursts of speed. He's a very worthy favourite because there are so many question marks about the rest of the field.

Roaring Lion's kind of brilliant speed only to get done at the line suggests that Gosden needs to have improved him by another few lbs relative to his peers. Can the mighty Gosden do that with such an exposed type? He mighn't have to, others just need to fall back a little for Roaring Lion to step forward. This is his trip.

Donnacha's replacing Moore ( who's off to America ) might be a huge bonus to Saxon Warrior's chances. He clearly gets on well with the horse and is more likely to get a badly missing in his last two runs turn of foot finish out of him than Ryan would. If Ryan had been available I feel that Saxon Warrior could have gone to the front and outstayed all comers up the stiff Sandown finish.

Cliffs Of Moher.. who knows what this lad will do, he will be kept out the back hoping to run on into a place. I love Hawkbill but he's a dodgy yoke. Raymond Tusk interests me as to why he's been pitched in here, his bare form suggests that he's a very progressive type who could place at a huge price.

I had been thinking that Happily is gone, I based that on her below par runs this year and the fact that her full brother the dual Classic winner Gleneagles got worse as the season progressed. In hindsight Gleneagles might have needed the step up in trip on grass that Happily seems to be crying out for. She's on my mind, especially with the ever patient Wayne Lordan riding her. His patient style could see her produced in time to burst into the lead and from there no one would outbattle her. I'm worried that the fillies aren't good enough, but she beat two future male Classic winners in France as a 2yo, one of them being Masar himself which shows that maybe she's up to taking on the colts. She's a sporting bet that I'm finding hard to resist.



Where is the pace going to come from ?

None of O'Brien's are there as pacemakers. It's not Cliffs Of Mother's style who has often been assumed to be a pacemaker only to be held up as when Idaho made the running for him at Ascot.

Hawkbill will probably make it for Masar, which should ensure a good sustained pace that will burn off the lesser horses in the field. Previous Eclipses have been won by gutsy streetfighter horses. There's none of this field that have run in that style so far this year.

HandsomeBob

Gringo180 wrote: »

A shocker of a Coral Eclipse. Flat racing badly needs a super star. I would be interested in Hawksbill but you just cant forgive his last 2 runs.

Couldn't juice for his last two races.

BoroMan32

Masar is out of the race.

BumperD

kiers47 wrote: »

I done something i rarely do for this and had the scummiest of scummy each way bets on Roaring Lion yesterday. 3 places. There will be about 5 runners, i think the bookies missed it a bit giving 3 places antepost tbh.
It was filthy. Filthy stuff. I feel a bit dirty after it tbh.

Looking even filthier

tryfix

BoroMan32 wrote: »

Masar is out of the race.

Wow, that's a biggie. My bet on Happily ( against my better judgement ) looks a whole lot less stupid after Masar's withdrawal.


Saxon Warrior's connections have just been thrown a monstrous sized bone..

kiers47

BumperD wrote: »

Looking even filthier

It went bad then came back good again. The joys of antepost.

del roy

Kiers
you dirty dirty boy.

Francie Barrett

Interesting that Ryan Moore has swerved the Coral Eclipse to take a few rides in America tonight. Mendelssohn at as high as 5/6 running in a very mediocre group 3 under card race looks like it's about as close as buying money to anything I have seen in the last month. Surely a stone better than anything else in the field, if it runs anywhere near to ability then it should be half the price.

Mgoraf

I think hunting horn looks a good price as well over there Francie

Francie Barrett

Fair play to Roaring Lion, probably won with a bit in hand there.

Mgoraf

Hope they both meet again in the champion stakes when Saxon is properly aimed at it

Stewards

tryfix

Saxon Warrior as a 2yo would have fought back.

Mgoraf

tryfix wrote: »

Saxon Warrior as a 2yo would have fought back.

Bit harsh tryfix?

Had a tough enough race only a week ago and the winner would have been trained to the minute for this.

Whiplash85

Result should be overturned.

Francie Barrett

Kevin Blake's comments after the race went down like a lead balloon in the studio there :pac:

Francie Barrett

Shame Ryan Moore is in America, I'd say he'd love to have another go at Murphy in the stewards room like he did at Goodwood last year.

"I know the horse well, he's not strong enough to keep it straight.

tryfix

Mgoraf wrote: »

Bit harsh tryfix?

Had a tough enough race only a week ago and the winner would have been trained to the minute for this.

Yeah, you're right, I hadn't realised that he'd been taken so far across to the rail by the winner. Having said that, as a 2yo he found some acceleration to get back at Roaring Lion, he's missing that bit of bite in his last three runs.

I'd go along with the idea that he'd be better with some cut in the ground and also he's a little like Cracksman last year when he too was just coming up a bit short until he matured a bit more and got softer ground.

tryfix

Francie Barrett wrote: »

Shame Ryan Moore is in America, I'd say he'd love to have another go at Murphy in the stewards room like he did at Goodwood last year.

"I know the horse well, he's not strong enough to keep it straight.

For all the criticism Moore rightly gets, he would have been a great asset pushing Saxon Warrior out to the line. He's worth a fair bit in a battle.