The 2019 Coral-Eclipse: Oliver Brett's runner-by-runner guide

The 2019 Coral-Eclipse: Oliver Brett's runner-by-runner guide

By Racing TV
Last Updated: Tue 5 Dec 2023
Who wins the feature race at Sandown on Saturday? Watch vital galloping clues and analysis plus read Oliver Brett's verdict on the eight declared runners.
By Oliver Brett
The Coral-Eclipse is the mid-summer, middle-distance highlight of the flat calendar in Britain and the showpiece fixture at Sandown.
Racegoers are in for a treat at the Esher venue on Saturday as they will get a chance to salute Enable, the most famous mare in Europe.
Since winning the 2017 Oaks by five lengths in a spectacular Epsom downpour, she has won six further Group Ones without tasting defeat, but has not been seen since seeing off the determined challenge of Magical in the Breeders’ Cup Turf last year.
Magical will clash swords with the daughter of Nathaniel once again, while there are plenty of others capable of putting it up to John Gosden’s number one stablemate.
Here’s a guide to the eight declared runners plus a verdict.
Trainer: David Menuisier. General odds: 33-1.
Danceteria finished third behind Regal Reality in the Brigadier Gerard at Sandown
Represents a likeable yard which often produces over-achieving horses and has the benefit of two wins from three this term.
The most recent of those was a good-ground success over the Eclipse trip in a Group Three at Longchamp last month, but he is winless in two attempts on firmer ground and his dam certainly preferred softer ground.
Likely to be held up off the pace.
Trainer: Aidan O’Brien. General odds: 50-1.
Hunting Horn is a Royal Ascot winner
May well be employed to ensure a good gallop as he did for Magical in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Ascot – though, in effect, it could be argued he set up the race perfectly for the winner Crystal Ocean.
His last win came at Listed level in June 2018. Ten outings since have included trips to Gulfstream and Doha and total career earnings of more than £600,000 cannot be sniffed at.
Trainer: Sir Michael Stoute. General odds: 16-1.
Watch how Mustashry landed the Lockinge at Newbury
Won the Lockinge at 9-1 in May when beating some good milers like Laurens, Beat The Bank and subsequent Queen Anne winner Lord Glitters.
Only seventh in that same Queen Anne, however, and now tries 1m2f for only the second time in his 19-race career.
Interestingly, that attempt resulted in a Sandown win in last year’s Listed Gala Stakes.
An inconsistent horse but could be a major player if things fall his way.
REGAL REALITY
Trainer: Sir Michael Stoute. General odds: 5-1.
Our experts analyse the Brigadier Gerard Stakes
In 1923, Alec Taylor won the last of his six Eclipses as a trainer and this weekend Sir Michael Stoute can break that record having sent out his sixth winner, Ulysses, in 2017.
Regal Reality is a four-year-old – the age at which Stoute horses tend to be at their most lethal – who posted an impressive course-and-distance success in the Brigadier Gerard Stakes in May.
Kerrin McEvoy, a hugely experienced big-race rider, is booked and it is hard to believe this colt won’t be involved in the finish.
Trainer: Roger Varian. General odds: 20-1.

newmarket

16:10 Newmarket - Thursday April 18
Zabeel Prince in winning action at Group Three level at Newmarket
A horse who looks a little over-priced considering he is a Group One winner already this season - in the Prix d’Ispahan at Longchamp – and that victory followed a smooth success in Newmarket’s Earl Of Sefton Stakes.
He is versatile in terms of underfoot conditions but may be stretched by the trip given that he was a disappointing seventh of eight in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes.
Those two successes in April and May had come over nine furlongs.
Trainer: John Gosden. General odds: Evens.
The Arc is once again Enable's main target this season
Given that this fabulous mare is a notoriously unshowy workhorse, it will probably be difficult for Frankie Dettori and the rest of the John Gosden team to assess just where she is in terms of fitness.
The stable has enjoyed some fine successes this season but counted some disappointments too.
Considering the Arc remains Enable’s main target, and that she looked vulnerable in her last two wins last season, it would probably not be a disaster if she did not win this race which comes over a shorter than ideal trip.
MAGICAL
Trainer: Aidan O’Brien. General odds: 9-2.
Our experts put Magical's success in the Tattersalls Gold Cup under the microscope
Having got to within three-quarters of a length of Enable at Churchill Downs in November, Magical will have no excuses if she fails to exact sweet revenge this weekend.
That is because this extremely well-bred filly has won three times over 10-furlong trips this season, including in the Tattersalls Gold Cup.
Far from disgraced when beaten by Crystal Ocean at Ascot, she had every other rival well strung out behind her on that occasion and seems set to produce a strong bid.
Trainer: Hughie Morrison. General odds: 10-1.
Telecaster created a big impression in the Dante
There was a fair bit of excitement surrounding this son of New Approach when beating Too Darn Hot in the Dante, leaving his owners to pay the steep supplementary fee to enter the Derby.
Bitter disappointment followed when he finished last at Epsom, but the dice have been rolled once again.
If he can keep cool in the preliminaries, an aspect he struggled with in the Derby, he should give a good account of himself.
Oliver Brett’s verdict:
This is not the time to take a short price about Enable given slight concerns about the trip and the mare’s fitness, though it would clearly be exciting for the sport to see her pass this test and notch an eighth success at the highest level.
REGAL REALITY is the one who appeals from a betting point of view and the son of Intello can extend his trainer’s terrific record in this race, even if he has a bit to find on ratings with one or two of these.
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