Sandown Saturday

Coral-Eclipse (Group 1)

THE Group 1 Coral-Eclipse was meant to be a lap of honour for Derby hero City Of Troy (Aidan O’Brien/Ryan Moore), and the race was set up for him by pacemaker Hans Andersen, but while the result was the right one, the style of victory left the crowds who flocked to see the 1/4 favourite rather unimpressed, and this certainly wasn’t on a par with what the colt seemed to achieve at Epsom.

Hans Andersen, as expected, went straight to the front but those expecting an end-to-end gallop were mistaken, with Wayne Lordan dropping his hands after a furlong to allow Ryan Moore to take up a prominent and tactically beneficial position.

It was only coming into the turn with six furlongs left that Lordan pressed the button on the leader, and he was allowed to build up a lead without the others immediately following his early committal.

If that suggests that the race would turn into a bit of a sprint, then the visual aspect didn’t match the set-up, with City Of Troy hanging to his right as he was produced to lead inside the two-furlong marker and thereafter looking workmanlike as he fought off the challenge of Ghostwriter (Clive Cox/Richard Kingscote), who made his move closer to the far side but at the same time, and Al Riffa (Joseph O’Brien/Dylan Browne McMonagle), who arrived late and wide.

To his credit, City Of Troy dug in gamely and never looked like being passed, scoring by a length and the same, with the front three well clear.

Sticky ground

Game as he was, City Of Troy didn’t impress with the manner of his win, and connections were inclined to blame the sticky ground, for all he has gained his most impressive previous wins on ground softer than good.

As to why the Eclipse was run only slightly faster than a couple of handicaps later on the card, it makes little logical sense to blame the ground or the fact that the runners all followed Hans Andersen up the centre of the course, as both those factors were repeated in the following Class 4 handicap won by Blake in a time just a second slower than the Eclipse and with the 79-rated winner carrying 9lb more than City of Troy. The clock, they claim, never lies, but Bob Dylan says the answer is blowing in the wind, and he may be spot on here.

The reaction of several at Sandown was that the breeze (always the hardest variable to quantify) picked up noticeably when the big race was run, and the modest time could be a result of the runners being buffeted around in the wind. Visually that tallies with the way the horses rolled off a true line in the finish.

“City Of Troy is a beautiful, good-ground horse and a real fast-ground mover so he’s won today despite the ground,” was the verdict of Aidan O’Brien afterwards.

“It was proper soft ground today, softer than when he won the Dewhurst last season. It was tough today and it was specialist ground.

“It didn’t really go according to plan but in the end, I think he won pretty easily. I imagine the lads will now look at the Juddmonte or Irish Champion Stakes before looking at America where he could finish up in the Breeders’ Cup Classic - that’s what he’s bred to be.”

Coral Charge (Group 3)

ED Walker is having a fine season, looking on course to beat his previous best tally, and gained his first pattern winner of the campaign when Makarova (Hector Crouch) landed the Group 3 Coral Charge at odds of 9/2. The daughter of Acclamation raced in touch on the far rail before angling out with just under two furlongs to run to launch a challenge to leader Desperate Hero (Jack Channon/Callum Rodriguez), as Purosangue (Andrew Balding/David Probert) was doing the same from a wider position on the track.

The latter appeared to have the momentum a furlong out, but Makarova stuck her head out and finished best to win by three-quarters of a length, with Desperate Hero a length further back in third. Favourite Live In The Dream was not asked to lead for a change and failed to fire again, with the Nunthorpe winner now having plenty to prove.

“Makarova wore blinkers for the first time at Royal Ascot last time (7th in King Charles III Stakes) and she paid the price, so we took them off. She was more her old self today in that she got behind the bridle and finished strongly.”

Coral Distaff (Listed)

THE Listed Coral Distaff went to 25/1 outsider Spiritual (John and Thady Gosden), who was given a well-judged front-running ride by Richard Kingscote to catch her rivals off guard.

The daughter of Invincible Spirit set a fair gallop, and while challenged in the last furlong or so by Indelible (Ralph Beckett/Hector Crouch), she was always holding on, and had a length and a quarter to spare at the line. Indelible, for her part, was reversing Royal Ascot form with Soprano (George Boughey/Billy Loughnane), who was half a length behind her in third.

Winner of a Leicester novice on her racecourse debut, Spiritual was pitched into Group company immediately, coming up short in the Rockfel Stakes and the Nell Gwyn before finding her level with a creditable second in the Michael Seely Memorial at York on her previous start. She improved on that effort to gain a first blacktype success here, belatedly justifying her ambitious campaigning.

Haydock Saturday

Lancashire Oaks (Group 2)

THE meeting at Haydock on Saturday had to be abandoned during racing with runners slipping on the home bend on both races run on the round track.

The track was inspected again after the Lancashire Oaks and the decision was made that only the straight track was fit to race thereafter, with the Old Newton Cup correspondingly lost.

The Group 2 Lancashire Oaks went the way of 10/3 chance Queen of The Pride (John and Thady Gosden/Oisin Murphy) following up her win in the Group 3 Nifty 50 Lester Piggott Stakes here last month, and she scored by three lengths from Hoppings Stakes winner Tiffany (Sir Mark Prescott/Luke Morris).

The latter was one of a number of horses who lost their footing on the treacherous home bend, so the form needs treating with a degree of caution, notwithstanding the fact that the winner, from the only crop of Roaring Lion, is already a high-class performer and likely to progress further.

Both fillies could line up for the Yorkshire Oaks next month where scores can be settled on a level playing field, while the pair will have ParisLongchamp in October as a long-term objective, with the Prix de Royallieu over a mile and six furlongs having previously been mentioned for the winner.