The queen of the turf, John Gosden’s Enable makes her seasonal return at Sandown on Saturday, looking to extend her winning streak that currently stands at nine. With her ultimate goal being the Arc in October, where she’ll bid to win the race for a third successive year, she’ll also be looking to win the Eclipse to put down a big marker. For our money, Enable will be making a winning return, and here are five reasons why! You can see our Coral-Eclipse tips on site now too!
Enable did battle with Magical at last year’s Breeders’ Cup Turf over twelve furlongs, where Aidan O’Brien’s charge got to her quarters but was unable to get past. She never looked likely to do so either and the drop in distance to ten furlongs is more likely to suit Enable than Magical.
Enable possesses plenty of tactical speed, as showcased by the way she travelled into the Arc last October, and there is no reason why the drop in distance should prompt a different result between the pair.
A strong travelling sort, Enable always tanks into her races before finding plenty for pressure under driving in the closing stages. Although twelve furlongs is certainly her optimum distance, the stiff finish at Sandown will help her in the closing stages. Once stamina kicks in towards the final furlong, that is when Enable will start to turn on the afterburners and power clear!
On last year’s reappearance, Enable faced a field that included the extremely talented Crystal Ocean at Kempton. She ended up having to make the running that day, dictating a fair gallop and powering clear under hand riding in the closing stages. John Gosden wouldn’t be sending her out if he didn’t think she was ready to rock and roll and fitness won’t be an issue at 3:35pm!
Although her favoured tactic is to sit off the pace and pull clear of her rivals in the closing stages, she’s more than capable of setting her own fractions too. With the master pacemaker in Frankie Dettori aboard, connections may opt to let her stride out, so she can burn off her rivals one by one. However the race pans out, she won’t be inconvenienced.
The most obvious reason, disregarding everything written above, is that Enable is a superstar and the best horse in the race by quite some margin. Rated 125 for her seasonal return, she wins Group 1 races for fun and no matter what scenario is thrown at her, she always comes out on top. Even if the distance is perhaps against her, she wins, and that’s our verdict!