Europe Pecking Order

[weatherbird]

Is it oversimplified to say that each distance has a clear leader?

8 furlongs - Goldikova
10 furlongs - Byword
12 furlongs - Fame and Glory

I suppose the sprinters & stayers will be further sorted out by the weekend. It's interesting that the first two split the difference (9 furlongs) last time out with Goldikova half a length to the good. Will Byword come back for the Eclipse?

[Kennedy]

I'm not so sure that Workforce is clearly worse than Fame and Glory and certainly you would think that he has quite a bit of improvement in him as well.

[weatherbird]

word from Fabre is that Byword is more likely to drop back to a mile. Also, I didn't realize that The Coral-Eclipse goes on July 3rd, a mere 17 days after the Prince of Wales's. Why are these two European 1 1/4 mile Group 1's squeezed so close together on the schedule? then it's two months until the Irish Champion? I would think that Sandown would try to middle the Ascot & Leopardstown races to get a better field.

[Arkle]

Horses have run in both before, I know Ouija Board won the PoW and then ran at Sandown.
There is one big difference between the two, in that the PoW is 4yo+, whereas the Eclipse is 3yo+ and as such represents the first opportunity for 3yos to take on older horses. Coming 4-5 weeks after the Derby makes it an ideal race for the Derby winner, if they decide to bypass the Irish Derby, which most seem to be doing these days.

BTW, there is also the Juddmonte Intl at York in mid Aug.

[weatherbird]

[quote author=Arkle link=topic=43989.msg971607#msg971607 date=1276717387]
BTW, there is also the Juddmonte Intl at York in mid Aug.
[/quote]
oops, I should have remembered that race. but that reminds me that the Juddmonte and the Irish Champion are also pretty close to each other. The Eclipse seems to set up for the 3yo's as it's a quick turnaround from Royal Ascot and the 12 furlong specialists are running in Irish Derby and/or waiting for the King George. could we expect any 3yo's from RA (St. James's Palace or King Edward) to show up at Sandown or would they strictly be coming from the Epsom Derby?

[Majella from Ireland]

I may be getting the Eclipse and the Juddmonte mixed up but I think Rip Van Winkle ran in the Eclipse last year so yes it provides a good opportunity for milers to stretch out for the first time.