Emily Upjohn and Paddington stand ground for Eclipse

Ashley Iveson
July 3, 2023 11:57 am

Select field of six still on course for Sandown at the weekend.

Emily Upjohn and Paddington feature among a small but select field of six horses still in contention for the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown on Saturday.

John and Thady Gosden’s Emily Upjohn made a tremendous start to her campaign in the Coronation Cup at Epsom last month and looks set to step back from a mile and a half to a mile and a quarter, with William Buick taking over in the saddle from the suspended Frankie Dettori.

Aidan O’Brien said last week that a step up in distance was under consideration for his Irish 2,000 Guineas and brilliant St James’s Palace Stakes hero Paddington and he was left in at Monday’s confirmation stage alongside his stablemate Luxembourg.

Paddington and Ryan Moore after winning at Royal Ascot (David Davies/PA)

The latter notched his third Group One win in the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh in May, since when he has finished second to Mostahdaf in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot.

The Owen Burrows-trained Anmaat is in line to bid for back-to-back top-level wins after landing the Prix d’Ispahan on his latest appearance, while Dubai Honour may return from a short break after winning two Group Ones in Australia and finishing third in the QEII Cup in Hong Kong earlier in the year.

The potential line-up is completed by Simon and Ed Crisford’s West Wind Blows, who produced a career-best when second to Pyledriver in the Hardwicke Stakes at the Royal meeting.