VADENI (128+) provided his connections with a handsome return on their investment when winning the Coral-Eclipse, producing a sharp turn of foot when required by Christophe Soumillion at a crucial stage of the 10-furlong contest.

The Belgian jockey, who oozed confidence aboard the Prix du Jockey Club winner throughout the Group 1 contest, was happy to enjoy a view of the entire field as Alenquer (122) set an even pace according to the opening sectionals.

Tom Marquand asked the leader to quicken from the front entering the final half mile which caused the sectionals to dip under 12 seconds for the first time.

The winner was unflustered by the injection of speed and closed quickly courtesy of adjoining 11.48secs and 11.47secs furlongs heading to the two-furlong marker, splits which were the fastest of the race by any of the participants.

Soumillion briefly explored the route to the inside of Native Trail before, with the 11.47secs furlong as a launch pad, he switched outside allowing the son of Churchill to stamp his seal on the race and complete his three-furlong sectional in 37.21secs.

Fastest

Mishriff (128+) was closing fast at the line having not enjoyed the best passage through the closing stages. According to his jockey David Egan, the five-year-old was race-rusty at the bottom of the straight before finishing strongly.

The closing sectionals support the jockey’s view as the son of Make Believe clocked a closing furlong 0.16secs quicker than the winner as part of his 37.32secs closing sectional.

Noticeably though, at no stage did he match the winner’s sub-11.5sec furlongs. A defence of the Juddmonte International and a possible mouth-watering clash with Baaeed and Desert Crown is next on the agenda for John and Thady Gosden’s five-year-old.

Native Trail (127) stepped forward on his achievements in either of the 2000 Guineas appearances and looked at home over the extra two furlongs. Only losing second place in the closing strides, he clocked 37.50secs for the final three furlongs.

The final pieces in the jigsaw in allocating a large time figure was the return to form of Lord North (127) and to a lesser extent Bay Bridge (124), with the latter although apparently disappointing, running to a figure not far short of his Brigadier Gerard victory.

To further illustrate the finishing efforts of the principals in the showpiece contest, Arqoob (101) stopped the clock for his sectional at 38.14secs and Youthful King (86+) 38.25secs, having both raced over the same distance.

Recommended

Arqoob’s handicap was the strongest, so tracker entries for track specialist Sweet Reward (99), who also runs well at Goodwood and Electric Storm (97+) who faired best of those who raced prominently, are recommended.

Sinjaari (111+) narrowly earned the overall race time plaudits over the mile when winning the Coral Challenge Handicap, although the acclamation went the way of Coral Distaff winner Grande Dame (111+) when viewing the races through the closing sectionals.

Grande Dame took full advantage of dropping into listed company as the less demanding early pace allowed her to finish strongly, with her final furlong the most impressive of the day on the round course.

The Lope De Vega covered the ground from the three-furlong pole in 37.08secs, 0.13secs quicker than Vadeni.

Sinjaari was always travelling best passing the three-furlong marker, striking for home soon afterwards, the son of Camelot covered the closing sectional in 37.18secs. However, he needed the line to hold off the late thrust of Checkandchallenge (111+).

William Buick chose to settle William Knight’s colt at the rear of the field as he would likely have pulled his chance away if allowed to race without cover. The early manoeuvre resulted in the partnership being a length a drift at the back of the field prior to delivering a sparkling closing sectional of 36.76secs.

Delving deeper into the numbers reveals the son of Fast Company possesses the speed to be competitive in pattern races as he clocked consecutive furlongs of 11.24secs and 11.43secs on his way into a challenging position. Admittedly his effort petered out towards the line, suggesting a drop back to seven furlongs could also elicit further improvement.

The times on the sprint course went against the grade as handicap winner Lovely Mana (100+) clocked a faster time than Group 3 winner Raasel (100+).

The pace was slow early in the Coral Charge and Raasel was best placed to strike for home first, while his main opponents fell over themselves on the rail. A closing sectional of 35.17secs saw the five-year-old home ahead of Mitbaahy (98+) who covered the same ground in 35.43secs.

Lovely Mana clocked an excellent closing effort, stopping the clock at 35.23secs. George Boughey’s filly looks very progressive and is worth a try in pattern class.

THERE was plenty of controversy at Haydock on Saturday when feature race winner Free Wind overcoming trouble in running to land a controversial renewal of the Lancashire Oaks in tremendous style in the hands of Rab Havlin.

However, the race was slowly run until late in the contest so I would rather concentrate on the performances of Get Shirty, Tacarib Bay and Zero Carbon from a time perspective.

Get Shirty (114) posted the most impressive time of the day when winning the very competitive Old Newton Cup, making most of securing the perfect position leaving the stalls. A closing sectional of 36.42secs was achieved courtesy of Danny Tudhope’s patience, waiting for the gap behind front running Torcello and taking the direct route to the winning line.

There were a host of late closers with race favourite Gaassee (110+) and Inchicore (110+) the most notable of them, as they both closed off faster than the winner from impossible positions.

Turning for home the pair were in the company of On To Victory, who eventually finished last, at the rear of the field. Taking differing paths, Gaassee picked a path through runners to post a sectional of 36.27secs while Inchicore challenged wide in completing his race in 36.32secs.

Tacarib Bay (110+) took advantage of dropping in grade, prevailing in a tight finish from Haydock specialist Fools Rush In (110) in a time-figure second only to Get Shirty when adjusted for distance.

A finishing split of 36.31secs saw Richard Hannon’s colt home by the narrowest of margins as he closed into a pace which held up well, illustrated by pace-setting Marshal Dan (106) holding on for third. The eye-catcher was Young Fire (104+), who was denied a clear run before posting a closing effort the equivalent of the winner.

The final race on the card was ultimately the slowest on the card, however the closing sectionals were very impressive with Zero Carbon (90+) stopping the clock at 35.03secs from the three-furlong pole. Moreover, Spirit Of Nguru (90+) (34.86secs), Doux Esprit (86+) (34.72secs) and Vince Lombardi (84+) (34.78secs) all dipped under 35secs.

Winterwatch (90+), Kempton, Wednesday 29th June – improved for wind surgery when winning in a good time.

Snash (93+), Thirsk, Wednesday 29th June – won with authority in first-time cheekpieces, can follow up

Coltrane (115+), Sandown, Friday 1st July – progressing with every run and should not be underestimated if heading to Goodwood for the Group 1 stayers’ contest.