Countdown to Coral Eclipse 2009

Sea the Stars appearance in the Coral-Eclipse this coming Saturday (4th July) will be a considerable bonus for Sandown and its sponsors. The Eclipse is a Group 1 for 3 year olds plus run over 1 mile 2 furlongs. This years race is worth £500,000.00 and it looks as though it could be a "cracker". The 3 year olds get a weight for age allowance of 11 lbs from the older horses and this might well be crucial. Sea the Stars will be trying to follow the Nashwan route of winning the 2000 Guineas, the Derby and the Eclipse. In my humble opinion the best has not been seen of Sea the Stars yet. He has that 5th gear which only the great horses have and he has not been extended. Rip Van Winkle has improved with each run and this might be his best distance. Of the older horses, Conduit ran a smashing race over course and distance on his reappearance this season just being beaten by Cima De Triomphe who was receiving 7 lbs. Archipenko will be an interesting runner for Mike de Kock. His runners have to be respected. If Sea the Stars wins as I expect him to then we will all be wondering if his next port of call will be the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot. He will have three weeks in which to recover whereas Nashwan only had two weeks in 1989. The Eclipse promises to be an exciting race. For all the runners and riders with the jockey's colours go to Paddy Power and click on "Horse Racing".