Kevin Blake's Big Race Verdict: 11/2 Delacroix can put Derby defeat behind him and land Eclipse

• Kev brings us his Big Race Verdict on the Eclipse

• Quick turnaround a concern for market leader

• Moore fancied to dictate on beaten Derby favourite

Timeform Superboost

Ombudsman was a very impressive winner of the Group 1 Prince of Wales Stakes at Royal Ascot last month and he's a strong favourite to win another Group 1, the Coral Eclipse Stakes at Sandown, today. 

However, the Betfair Sportsbook have super-boosted his price to win today's race to 7/42.75. To take advantage of this super-boosted price, just click on the odds in the below bet banner to go direly to the pre-loaded betslip.

*Please Note: This Superboost is provided by the Betfair Sportsbook and not by any of our writers or tipsters.

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The Coral-Eclipse Stakes at Sandown (15:35) is always one of the mid-summer highlights of the Flat season. To get my minor moan out of the way early, I have a long-standing view that the race would sit much more symmetrically in between the Prince Of Wales's Stakes and the Juddmonte International if it was run a week later in the calendar.

The proximity of it to Royal Ascot creates a variable in terms of the sooner-than-ideal back-ups for both Ombudsman and Ruling Court, but this race clearly represented enough of a draw to tempt their connections into taking the chance and it has all the looks of a very good renewal of the race.

Might Delacroix revert to front-running tactics?

As always, the best place to start with a race like this is to assess the pace picture and try to get an idea as to how the race is likely to be run.

Delacroix (3) had made the running or raced prominently until being dropped in when upped in trip in the Derby last time. He might well revert to more forward tactics back over this shorter trip. Hotazhell (6) habitually races prominently, but he steps up in trip for the first time here which raises the possibility that he might not be quite as forward as usual. Sosie (4) has shown tactical versatility and seems comfortable following the leaders.

Camille Pissarro (2) had been ridden with patience until successfully switching to a handier position when stepped up in trip to win the Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly last time. Ruling Court (1) seems best when ridden with patience. Ombudsman (5) looked to enjoy a very patient ride in a strongly-run race in the Prince Of Wales's Stakes and is likely to be ridden quietly again.

On balance, it seems most likely that Ryan Moore will roll forward and set the pace on Delacroix, tactics that seemed to suit him earlier in the season. Camille Pissarro may well be happy to secure the box seat following his stablemate. It looks likely to be either Sosie or Hotazhell that takes up the outside chasing position with whichever one isn't as forward following the one that is. That will leave Ruling Court and Ombudsman to drop in and be ridden with more patience. 

Be careful when assessing French ground descriptions

Before delving into the form, just on a point of information when it comes to Sosie, don't fall into the trap of believing that the official ground descriptions in France correlate with ours. They don't.

The official ground descriptions may lead you to believe that Sosie has never raced on firmer ground than good-to-soft, but I walked the full track on Prix Ganay day in April and the ground was closer to good-to-firm than it was to the official description of good-to-soft. The French aren't seeking to be deliberately misleading, they just operate on a different scale to what we do and that should always be taken into account when viewing French form.

Very easy to forgive Delacroix's Derby run

4 (3)

Delacroix (Ire)

• J: Ryan Moore
• T: Aidan O'Brien, Ireland
• F:

The run of the race is likely to have a significant bearing on the conclusion, as if the race pans out as outlined above, one can sure that Ryan Moore will seek to give himself the greatest positional advantage that he can from the front. This will mean setting a pace that maximises his chance which almost certainly means looking to go steady. 

This will make it difficult for Ruling Court and particularly Ombudsman. The later was seen to wonderful effect when ridden with great patience off an overly-strong pace in the Prince Of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot. This race comes quite soon after that big effort and with it being likely to represent a totally different tempo of contest, he doesn't make much appeal at his short price.

In contrast, Delacroix showed himself to be very capable of the quickening off a slow pace in his Derby trials earlier this season. Everything about his mechanics suggested that he was unlikely to thrive in the Derby, but the interference he suffered early on in that race really did hamper any chance he had to show his best. That run couldn't be more forgivable.

This trip and setup will be much more to his liking and it wouldn't at all surprise to see him produce a career-best effort to win.

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