Coral Eclipse Tips: One To Chase Home City Of Troy
One of the premier attractions of the flat season comes to us live on Saturday afternoon with the Coral Eclipse at Sandown. City Of Troy is long odds-on to win the race and further enhance his reputation, and while Billy Grimshaw accepts he will be tough to beat he has one to back each-way and in without markets...
#AD 18+ New UK customers only (Excl. NI). £40 in FREE Bets: £30 sports bets & £10 casino bonus (CB). Min deposit & stake £10. Min odds Evs. FB credited on 1st qualifying bet settlement, expires in 7 days. One FB offer per customer/household/IP. Account & payment restrictions apply. Casino Bonus: Accept within 14 days, active for 3 days. 5x wagering, max redeemable £100. Game restrictions apply. Free Bets/cashed-out bets don’t qualify. 30 days to qualify. Horse Racing PYP: Pre-live e/w bets only, selected races. 6-9 runners: 1 PYP market. 10-13: 2 markets. 14+: 3 markets. Singles only. Dead Heat rules apply. No BOG/Cash-Out. T&Cs Apply.
Giant's Causeway, Hawk Wing, Oratorio, Mount Nelson, So You Think, St Mark's Basilica, Paddington, City Of Troy? It looks incredibly likely Aidan O'Brien will win a record extending eighth Coral Eclipse on Saturday with his Derby hero, especially since his main perceived challenger White Birch was ruled out earlier in the week due to not being 100%.
To call the race a penalty kick may be overstating the simplicity of the task facing the great hope of Coolmore, but providing he shows the form he has exemplified on all bar one starts - in the 2000 Guineas - he should take all the beating.
He clearly relished every inch of the trip at Epsom and was once again a tough pull up for Ryan Moore after crossing the line, showing his appetite for the game. However, just because he has stamina blatantly in abundance does not mean he doesn't have the potential to be even better over slightly shorter - namely the ten furlongs he will tackle at Sandown.
As racing fans we want to see superstars and although there will be few who are willing to plough into the superstar horse at his price, it would be wonderful to see him power away from the field ahead of his potential American adventure and set pulses racing for where the ceiling is for this phenomenal specimen.
#AD 18+ New UK customers only (Excl. NI). £40 in FREE Bets: £30 sports bets & £10 casino bonus (CB). Min deposit & stake £10. Min odds Evs. FB credited on 1st qualifying bet settlement, expires in 7 days. One FB offer per customer/household/IP. Account & payment restrictions apply. Casino Bonus: Accept within 14 days, active for 3 days. 5x wagering, max redeemable £100. Game restrictions apply. Free Bets/cashed-out bets don’t qualify. 30 days to qualify. Horse Racing PYP: Pre-live e/w bets only, selected races. 6-9 runners: 1 PYP market. 10-13: 2 markets. 14+: 3 markets. Singles only. Dead Heat rules apply. No BOG/Cash-Out. T&Cs Apply.
I would be lying if I said I wanted City Of Troy to win considering I will be betting against him, and the horse I'm keen to have onside is GHOSTWRITER. He was unbeaten at two - the same as City Of Troy - and did finish ahead of today's favourite at Newmarket in the 2000 Guineas. Obviously that was not City Of Troy's true running, but Ghostwriter ran a fine race behind three horses we have seen from their next few starts (barring the winner) who are top class.
Ghostwriter could well have been in the shake up for victory if he had not fluffed his lines at the start and then dawdled once more in the early stages of the race, perhaps showing a bit of rustiness given it was his seasonal debut. Nevertheless his finishing effort was striking to move past beaten horses and nab fourth place and as such, a stab at ten furlongs over in France for the French Derby looked to be right up his street.
He finished fourth when well fancied at Chantilly but I'd say the heavy ground put an end to his chance long before he was even in the stalls. This was still a fine effort but he simply couldn't get going in the mud and had to settle for minor honours. Sandown is likely to be good to firm on Saturday which is much more like it for Clive Cox's charge and I do think he will end up best of the rest.
Al Riffa has a job on his hands giving lumps of weight to the three year olds and could struggle on the likely quick surface, but Jayarebe interests me off the back of his defeat of King's Gambit in a race when much fuss was made over the second and perhaps the winner has been underestimated going forward. Of the outsiders, Hughie Morrison's Stay Alert is overpriced at 66s with BoyleSports but like Al Riffa, could find it tough to give weight to the younger horses. He will be much more at home here on good ground than he was on soft in Ireland last time out.
