Coral-Eclipse Stakes Preview
The Coral-Eclipse Stakes has become synonymous with excellence, and few have dominated the race quite like Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore in recent years.
The pair have combined to win the last three renewals with Delacroix (3/1), City Of Troy (1/4 favourite) and Paddington (8/11 favourite), while they also struck with St Mark’s Basilica in 2021. O’Brien has won the race a record nine times and now bids to become the first trainer in history to win the Eclipse four years in succession.
History also favours the Classic generation. Three-year-olds have won each of the last five renewals, seven of the last 10, and 13 of the last 27 runnings since 1999. Five favourites have won in the last eight years, while the biggest-priced winner during that period was Delacroix at 3/1.
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A race steeped in history
First staged in 1886, the Eclipse Stakes is the oldest 10-furlong Group One contest in the racing calendar and is named after one of the sport’s greatest racehorses.
Eclipse was born on the night of a solar eclipse in March 1764 and was bred by the Duke of Cumberland, who sadly died the following year.
At the Duke’s bloodstock dispersal sale in 1765, Eclipse was bought by Smithfield meat salesman William Wildman for either 75 or 80 guineas, depending on which historical account you read.
A grandson of the Darley Arabian, one of the three foundation stallions of the modern thoroughbred, Eclipse was a powerful chestnut with a distinctive white stocking on his off-hind leg. He was also notoriously difficult to handle, to the extent that Wildman even considered having him gelded.
Had that happened, thoroughbred racing and breeding would have lost one of the breed’s most influential stallions.
Eclipse did not make his racecourse debut until the age of five, but he retired unbeaten after 18 starts. Nine of those victories came by walkover, with rival owners unwilling to take on such a formidable opponent.
Early in his racing career, Eclipse caught the attention of legendary Irish soldier and gambler Colonel Dennis O’Kelly. After successfully backing the horse, O’Kelly purchased a half-share from Wildman for 650 guineas in 1769 before later acquiring the remaining half for 1,000 guineas, a price believed to have been decided by the outcome of a game of chance.
Retired to stud, Eclipse became one of the most influential stallions in racing history. Three of the first five winners of the Derby were his sons, and virtually every great racehorse since can trace its lineage back to him.
By 1907, 82 of the 127 Derby winners were direct descendants of Eclipse.
In Famous Racehorses (1895), Theo Taunton wrote: “(Eclipse) possessed speed, stride, ability to carry weight, strength of wind and power of endurance never surpassed, if equalled.”
Above all else, he possessed the one quality shared by all great racehorses: an unrelenting will to win.
Since his death, aged 24, on 27 February 1789, Eclipse’s skeleton has been reassembled and placed on display at the National Horseracing Museum in Newmarket. Examination of his body revealed that his heart weighed an incredible 14 pounds.
The 2026 Coral-Eclipse runners
1 – Gethin
Trained by Owen Burrows, the 117-rated colt has looked a much-improved performer this season. He won a Listed contest on Kempton’s all-weather surface before going down by just a neck to Ombudsman, despite conceding seven pounds, in the Brigadier Gerard Stakes over this course and distance on 28 May. Ombudsman has since won at Royal Ascot, giving the form a significant boost. Gethin’s sire, Ghaiyyath, won this race in 2020.
Contender Rating: 3/5
2 – King’s Gambit
Trained by Harry Charlton, King’s Gambit has now been beaten in his last 12 starts. However, he did place at Group 2 and Group 3 level in 2024 after landing a valuable 10-furlong handicap at Newbury. Rated 109, he has something to prove at this level.
Contender Rating: 1/5
3 – Saddadd
Roger Varian’s colt is rated 116 and has won three of his five starts. He was a decisive winner of the Group 3 Gordon Richards Stakes over this course and distance in April before finishing a respectable third, beaten just under three lengths by Almaqam, in the Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh. There should still be more improvement to come.
Contender Rating: 3/5
4 – A Boy Named Susie
Trained by Donnacha O’Brien, he produced arguably the best performance of his career when finishing fourth, beaten just under three lengths, in the French Derby behind Constitution River. Although he has won just one of his seven starts, his form is extremely solid and includes narrow defeats this season by subsequent Derby winner Christmas Day, who later finished runner-up in the Irish Derby. Rated 114, he remains on an upward curve.
Contender Rating: 3/5
5 – Constitution River
Trained by Aidan O’Brien, Constitution River was a Group 2 winner as a two-year-old before making a successful return in the Dee Stakes at Chester. He then captured the French Derby at Chantilly by three-quarters of a length from stablemate Hawk Mountain. A classy colt with obvious scope for further improvement, he looks a major contender.
Contender Rating: 5/5
6 – Flushing Meadows
Another from the Aidan O’Brien stable, Flushing Meadows has won once from seven starts and is rated 98. He appears set to adopt pacemaking duties.
Contender Rating: 0/5
7 – Hawk Mountain
Stablemate of Constitution River, Hawk Mountain has won four of his five starts. His dam is dual Group 1 winner Hydrangea, a sister to both English and Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Hermosa. He has already shown top-class ability and commands plenty of respect.
Contender Rating: 4/5
It is an excellent line-up and, when you scan the roll of honour since 1970, featuring names such as Mill Reef, Brigadier Gerard, Sadler’s Wells, Pebbles, Mtoto, Dancing Brave, Nashwan, Pilsudski, Daylami, Giant’s Causeway, Hawk Wing, Sea The Stars, Roaring Lion, Enable, Paddington, City Of Troy and Delacroix, it is exactly what this historic contest deserves.
The £1,000,000 Group 1 Coral-Eclipse Stakes is due off at 3.35pm at Sandown Park.
Verdict
Only two trainers have ever won the Eclipse Stakes three years in succession: Alec Taylor Jnr, who saddled Buchan in 1919 and 1920 before Craig an Eran completed the sequence in 1921, and Aidan O’Brien, whose recent winners have been Paddington (2023), City Of Troy (2024) and Delacroix (2025).
Victory on Saturday would see O’Brien become the first trainer in the race’s 140-year history to win four consecutive renewals.
Constitution River has already developed an outstanding CV, arrives after an impressive French Derby success and still looks capable of improving further. He can give O’Brien yet another landmark success in one of the sport’s most prestigious races.
