Coral Eclipse Stakes at Sandown Betting Preview

David Junior didn't put his best foot forward when coming home in fourth place behind Ouija Board in the Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot, but sponsors Coral make Brian Meehan's charge 6/4 favourite to gain compensation in the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown on July 8. Sent off the 11/8 market leader at the Royal meeting, David Junior got in a bit of a stir before the race and simply ran a shade flat, failing to quicken at the business end of the race. Given how good a turn of foot the four-year-old possesses, it's safe to forget that showing - he clearly wasn't on song. The son of Pleasant Tap stamped his authority on the mile-and-a-quarter division when belying odds of 25/1 to beat a top-class field in the Emirates Airline Champion Stakes where he ran on well to beat French filly Pride by three parts of a length. Any notion that that was a one-off were firmly dispelled when David Junior made a winning reappearance in the valuable Dubai Duty Free at Nad Al Sheba in March, easily drawing clear to beat The Tin Man by three and a half lengths. Despite the Royal Ascot reverse, David Junior remains the No 1 horse in Europe at this trip. Ouija Board quickened up nicely and kept on well in the closing stages to beat Electrocutionist by half a length in the Prince of Wales's Stakes, despite the conjecture that she would not be as effective dropped back to ten furlongs. Indeed, the Ed Dunlop-trained mare demonstrated the requisite speed to cope with the drop in trip, having finished second to Shirocco in the Coronation Stakes over a mile and a half at Epsom previously, and she is worthy of her place in the ante-post market for this race at 2/1. Next in Coral's book for this highly prestigious event is Maraahel, the Sir Michael Stoute-trained winner of the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot. The son of Alzao was always travelling well and stayed on well to repel the renewed challenge of stablemate Mountain High to claim the Group 2 prize. Another Stoute horse, Notnowcato, was far from disgraced when fifth in the Prince of Wales's Stakes. He is worth his place in the line up, although both he and his stable companion would appear to be playing for places on the book, as Maraahel has often came up short when pitched in at the highest level while Notnowcato is a progressive sort, who could make an impact in Group 1 company abroad, but one suspects that he will find at least one or two too good ina race of the Eclipse's stature. The Aidan O'Brien-trained duo, Ace and Aussie Rules, are both available at 10/1, ahead of the lightly-raced Petrovich, who was a creditable second to Snoqualmie Boy in the Listed Hampton Court Stakes at Royal Ascot. The three-year-old will need to improve greatly to figure. But the fact that his astute trainer, Jeremy Noseda, has entered him in this and the Sussex Stakes suggests that he is expected to make his mark at the highest level.