Sandown Saturday

Coral-Eclipse Stakes (Group 1)

THINGS didn’t go to plan for Derby favourite Delacroix at Epsom, with the dual trial winner in trouble when hampered in the early stages and finishing mid-field.

But, he had beaten Epsom hero Lambourn in the Ballysax and confirmed himself a top-class colt despite again meeting significant trouble in running to provide Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore with a fourth win in the Eclipse in the past five years.

The son of Dubawi was preferred by Ryan Moore over Prix du Jockey Club winner Camille Pissarro and was backed into 3/1 behind favourite Ombudsman, while his stablemate drifted badly in the market.

Delacroix was handy early as Sosie and Hotazhell cut out the early pace but drifted towards the rear as he was passed on either side by the Godolphin runners before the home turn.

With Camille Pissarro moving up on his outside in the straight, Moore found himself in a pocket and not travelling as well as his main rivals. He had to pull his mount to the outside and kept pushing as he gathered his stride and, although last with little more than a furlong left, he picked up strongly when meeting rising ground and edged past Ombudsman (John & Thady Gosden/William Buick) in the dying strides to prevail by a neck. Ruling Court (Charlie Appleby/Oisin Murphy) was a length and three-quarters further back in third, just ahead of Camille Pissarro.

Victory for Delacroix, a son of outstanding race mare Tepin, looked unlikely when he was last and off the bridle less than two furlongs out, with the winner hitting an in-running high of 369/1 on Betfair, but his strong finish got the job done to maintain his unbeaten record over 10 furlongs.

Strong finish

This was a third win in a row in the race for Aidan O’Brien and a ninth overall, while Moore was achieving the same hat-trick and was registering a fifth win in the race, with his first coming on Sir Michael Stoute’s Notnowcato in 2007.

“All credit to the team and Ryan gave Delacroix an incredible ride,” said Aidan O’Brien in the aftermath. “He said he changed his plans four times. Going out, he said he was happy to make the running, and he wasn’t the only one who had that on his mind. It just kept changing.

“But Ryan did say to me that Delacroix is a very fast horse, and he wouldn’t be surprised if he is a miler. So, I knew what was inside Ryan’s head and I had a fair idea what he was thinking but he did say that four times he changed his plans.

“They went, then they steadied and then they went again. It was very difficult for Ryan, but it was a masterful ride.”

“I wanted to go forward,” confirmed the winning rider. “But got caught in a pocket and was a long way back, so I had to wait and go around them. Delacroix showed a very good turn of foot and got up to beat a very good horse. He didn’t like Epsom but is out of a great race mare and had a superior turn of foot today.”

RUMSTAR (Jonathan Portman/Rob Hornby) looked booked for a good season when winning the Palace House Stakes at Newmarket on his return, and he appreciated the return to Group 3 company when adding to his tally in the Coral Charge at Sandown on Saturday.

An 11/2 chance at the off, the five-year-old gelding travelled well held up and ran on strongly to collar the pace-setting She’s Quality (Jack Davison/James Ryan) well inside the final furlong to score by three-parts of a length. Shagraan (Mick Appleby/Rossa Ryan) got the best of a three-way battle for third, albeit beaten three lengths by the winner.

The winner was unplaced in the Temple Stakes and the King Charles III Stakes on his previous starts, but was poorly drawn and was suited by a change of tactics here having led his side at Royal Ascot.

Coral Distaff

The Listed Coral Distaff over a mile saw Blue Bolt (Andrew Balding/Colin Keane) step up in class to complete a hat-trick of wins, leading from start to finish to do so and impressive for all she had the run of things from the front.

Sent off the 2/1 favourite, Blue Bolt led from Suite Francaise (Charlie Johnson/Joe Fanning) for much of the race, although the biggest challenge eventually came from Cajole (John & Thady Gosden/Ryan Moore), who came from much further back than that pair but failed by a length to reel the winner in, with Suite Francaise two and a quarter lengths behind her in third.

There are no immediate plans for Blue Bolt, but her trainer believes she’s still progressing and can do better yet, saying: “Blue Bolt is a lovely filly. We couldn’t really train her last year as she had a few niggles.

“She’s improved with her racing and her work this year and seems to be getting better and better. She’s smart.”

Haydock Saturday

Lancashire Oaks (Group 2)

THE Group 2 Lancashire Oaks saw 2/7 favourite Estrange (David O’Meara/Danny Tudhope) workmanlike in winning by a neck over Scenic (Ed Walker/James Doyle) after outsider Love Talk had raced in a clear lead.

The winner was left in front when that rival began to weaken two furlongs out, which perhaps didn’t suit, and she was always holding the runner-up’s game challenge.

She remains an exciting prospect, who will be seen in a better light given an end-to-end gallop, and on softer ground. “Danny said Estrange normally falls asleep in a race but today she was trying to chase a little bit and didn’t quite drop the bit,” reported O’Meara.

“She ended up being in front for a long time, which isn’t really how we’d like to play her.

“It was a means to an end. She’s four from five now and has won a Group 2, so it’s brilliant.

“I don’t think she’s absolutely reliant on heavy ground, but we wouldn’t really want to be running on quick.

“The Yorkshire Oaks would be the next target – it fits in well timewise.”