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| You Can Call Me Al - Al Kazeem can make it 3 straight Group 1s in the Eclipse |
In that respect there’s not overly much more you can say about the leading protagonists from the Royal meeting’s Wednesday feature that wasn’t said then, because if Al Kazeem turns up in the same form he’s been in so far this season, as he did in the Prince of Wales’s, he’ll be extremely hard to get the better of; at a track he’s already recorded a victory at this season when landing the Gordon Richards Stakes.
The presence of Mars does add a little more intrigue to proceedings with him representing the classic generation and having run well all season pitched in at the highest level, and with a favourable weight for age allowance here over what could potentially be his optimum trip he could be set to maybe spring a little bit of an upset.
The Ballydoyle inmate was mightily impressive breaking his maiden last term, so much so that he shot to the head of the Derby betting. He has subsequently only run in Group 1s – showing the high esteem in which he is held – and has always run with credit.
He stayed on strongly in the Guineas on his seasonal reappearance before being given way too much to do in the Derby when again finishing well from a long way back. He then arguably showed further improvement when 3rd in the St. James’s Palace, when a shade unlucky and I’d fancy him to maybe go a little better again here and away from the favourite he’s probably the one I think represents the best value.
Some would argue to the contrary however especially given the fact that he may enter the race as not even the yard’s first string. Camelot remains engaged at the time of writing but is almost certain not to run now, but Queen Anne victor Declaration Of War could line-up and it would certainly add some much needed spice to the race should he take his chance.
Having joined Ballydoyle from France last year Declaration Of War ran well last season without causing too many waves, he then comfortably landed a Listed race to kick off his 2013 campaign before being backed like defeat was out of the question in the Lockinge.
His run in the Lockinge was almost too bad to be true as he found nothing as push came to shove but duly redeemed himself at Royal Ascot when winning the Queen Anne.
He’s been racing at a mile this year but was twice victorious over 10 furlongs last season and unless they go too quick he could be a big danger. It’ll be interesting to see which of the rumoured Ballydoyle combatants Joseph O’Brien elects to ride, one would assume it would be Declaration Of War, but if he were to plump alternatively that could tell you all you need to know about which horse the O’Briens think has the best shot here; although they have been wrong before.
The Fugue and Mukhadram filled the placings behind Al Kazeem at Royal Ascot and although this race will surely be run very differently it is difficult to envisage either of them reversing that result here.
Mukhadram nearly stole the Prince of Wales’s under a canny Paul Hanagan ride but he will undoubtedly not be given that much rope again here and as a result could be up against it.
The Fugue meanwhile should come on from her Prince of Wales’s run and will get some weight from the older male horses, but even at her best she will find it hard to live with an on song Al Kazeem.
I’ve been a long time supporter of John Gosden’s filly though and I’d love to see her become only the third filly to win the Eclipse and the first since 1992. Hailing from the yard that took the race last year and having always run well it wouldn’t be the biggest shock in the world if she did shake-up the history books but in Al Kazeem she faces a horse that has been imperious this season thus far and should win this on his way to even greater things going forward.
German raider Pastorious adds a further form strand to the race but for all he’s one of the higher rated horses and this doesn’t exactly look a vintage Eclipse I suspect he may find himself down the field here much like he did on Champions’ Day when he took on Europe’s finest 1m2f horses in the Champion Stakes last October.
Outsider Miblish meanwhile has little to no business even being in this field and will surely struggle to get on terms with some of these stars.
The Eclipse has given us some thrilling finishes in recent years and with several closely matched horses set to do battle at Sandown this Saturday we could see another tight finish in 2013. If Al Kazeem turns up in the form he’s been in so far this season though it will take a very good horse to stop him notching a third consecutive Group 1 in what has been an unbeaten season thus far.
As at Royal Ascot I can’t help but feel still that this horse is being underestimated and were he trained by an O’Brien or a Stoute rather than Roger Charlton he’d be odds on rather than the 15/8 currently available with the sponsors, which to me, on what he’s done so far this season, looks very generous indeed.
Best Odds:
Al Kazeem 15/8
Declaration of War 4/1
The Fugue 4/1
Mars 5/1
Mukhadram 7/1
Pastorius 10/1
Camelot 10/1
Miblish 100/1
Recommendation:
2pts win Al Kazeem @ 15/8 (Coral)
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