The long-awaited return of Enable will be happening on Sunday as she was part of the confirmed entries for Sunday’s Eclipse at Sandown. John Gosden’s star mare won’t have things easy, with some incredible horses standing in her way.
The most notable omission for the contest is Lord North, who won’t be making the quick turnaround after his remarkable success in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot in June. Nevertheless, we still have a star-studded field, which is very evident in the fact that Enable is odds against for her first challenge of the campaign.
She was sent off 8/13 to beat Magical in this contest twelve months ago, absent since October, where she was beaten in agonizing fashion by Waldgeist, as she tried to claim a record-breaking third Arc. John Gosden has already been vocal in warning that she will likely need the run, given her age. Regardless of that fact, the remarkable six-year-old is sure to be popular and is the class of the field at her peak.
Her main danger looks to be Ghaiyyath, a runaway front-runner who was a remarkable fourteen-length winner of a German Group 1 last season. He’s proven that performance wasn’t a flash in the pan since, returning in 2020 with a dominant Group 3 victory at Meydan before cozily winning the Group 1 Coronation Cup at Newmarket in June. He’s unlikely to be pestered for the lead in this scenario and Enable is going to have to work very hard to find her way past.
Last year’s Derby third Japan also makes his way into the line-up, a dual Group 1 winner who returned this campaign with a promising fourth to Lord North at Royal Ascot. He should have come on plenty for the run and Ghaiyyath will set up a gallop that he’ll appreciate over the ten-furlong distance.
Of the rest, Regal Reality finished third in this race twelve months ago but ran a shade disappointingly on return at Royal Ascot in a much weaker race than this. Magic Wand is a smart mare in her own right, but even her best form leaves her someway short in this line-up. Bangkok and Deirdre both take their chance too, needing to post significant career-bests to threaten.