2018 Coral Eclipse Preview – Saturday, July 7th, 2018
There has been a lot of speculation as to whether or not Saxon Warrior was going to be left in for the Eclipse. Early on Monday this week he was still in the picture. But it is back to back defeats for him now as he misfired at the Irish Derby at Curragh after going off as the favourite. That dip in form coupled with this being a quick turnaround could mean that he does still get pulled from this.
The thing about his run at the Irish Derby was that it was a field that he should have been able to handle. Guineas winner Saxon Warrior should have enjoyed a fairly trouble-free run at Courragh but he just didn’t get anywhere near to his top gear at all. While the distance of 1m 2f for the Coral Eclipse is right in his wheelhouse, we think that he will get held back.
Masar Favourite
Masar is heading up the market and he is a justifiable favourite as well. He produced that epic run in beating Saxon Warrior at Newmarket in the 2000 Guineas. With a follow-up run in the Derby at Epsom in taking another win, Charlie Appleby’s charge is the one to beat at the moment. While it would be fantastic to see another showdown between Masoor and Saxon Warrior, we still feel that the latter isn’t going to be in the starting line up.
Roaring Lion looks a pretty solid contender of John Godsen here, twice having lost to Masar this year and once to Saxon Warrior in his four outings, surrounding his win at York in mid-May. His win at York was over a similar distance and similar ground so he could show up well here and is a decent option to look at.
Filly Happily has put in some impressive runs recently with good showings in the 1,000 Guineas, Irish 1,000 guineas and the Prix de Diane. The Irish runner looks on the brink of something better and she could well be in the mix for a solid place finish against here.
The ground at Sandown is probably going to be quick and that’s something to take into consideration for your 2018 Coral Eclipse betting. Forest Ranger has been targeted for the Eclipse but he is such a bulky contender that the pace which is likely to go off in the race is likely going to hinder him. The highest rated runner in the field is Hawkbill and while he has shown some strong form in his career, it is not there at the moment and certainly nothing produced recently that will have the field concerned.
Runners which will find the going more to their liking would be Rostropovich who has had a really busy season, but he had a very strong run at Curragh in the Irish Derby where he came home second. Yucatan will enjoy the ground but just looks outclassed for this renewal while the Cliffs Of Moher has a reasonable chance of getting in the mix. He has had a couple of decent travels recently but perhaps isn’t worth looking more than a place.
2018 Coral Eclipse Winner Odds*
Masar 5/4
Roaring Lion 2/1
Happily 6/1
Saxon Warrior 7/1
Forest Ranger 12/1
Cliffs of Moher 12/1
Rostropovich 12/1
Hawkbill 16/1
Yucatan 25/1
Raymond Tusk 33/1
* (betting odds taken at 7:22 pm on July 2nd, 2018)
2018 Coral Eclipse Predictions
It is all down to a duel between Masar and Roaring Lion for us. Then it just becomes a bit of a toss-up. It’s really hard to split them, Masar getting the edge because of his last two runs which have been impressive but the Derby win, for example, was in the midst of a really substandard renewal. We also like the threat that Happily brings to the table in this one as she could fire up a big challenge. We just do not see enough of a threat anywhere else in the field.
