After Workforce dodged a clash with The Kiwi Bred star in the Tattersalls Gold Cup and yet again at Royal Ascot,It would see Coolmore haver decided not to wait for him and are gonna hunt down the Derby and Arc hero and as such SoYouThink will now head to Sandown for the Coral Eclipse,Lets see if Juddmonthe finally leave Workforce in and give us the clash the whole racing world wants.
I would certainly hope that he's left in the race as it would be a cracker. However, i do worry that conenctions seem to be wrapping Workforce in cotton wool for some reason. It all seems a bit odd and makes you wonder why they kept him in training if they're not going to contest the big races.
Workforce's target has to be the Arc, and you wouldn't want to run him in both the POW and Eclipse when he has late season targets. I think So You Think could be the one to be with, over the Eclipse trip, because I think he can get a couple of lengths on something like Workforce over the trip. 7/4 is a grand price.
I think it would be fair to say that Workforce’s participation in the Eclipse Stakes will be dependent upon two factors: firstly, the going – if it comes up fast, he will be scratched; and secondly, the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud is on 26th June and they may head there instead, although they may need another jockey as that is also Irish Derby day and I will assume that Ryan Moore will go to The Curragh for Carlton House. I am not sure that the “whole racing world” really awaits a clash between So You Think and Workforce. The former has still got to live up to the hype and the latter is not really a ten furlong horse. As I do not see So You Think contesting the King George on 23rd July, this showdown may not happen at all.
Looks like Richard Hannon has gone mad there is now talk of Canford Cliffs running in the Eclipse. ALTHOUGH this may be the Coolmore factor who like to say there horses are going to run in certain races for the appeal of them as a stallion for example entering Yeats in the KIng George a couple of years ago so they are more than likely trying to give the impression that he will stay 10f if he ran in the Eclipse etc.
I would have thought Workforce's targets would have been the KG then the Arc. 10f does not seem to be a good idea to me against SYT.
I'll certainly be looking forward to it. It seems sensible for So You Think to remain at 10f for the time being. He looked to be stronger in the speed department than the stamina department on the evidence i have seen. Ballydoyls already have plenty of talent for the top 12f races so he might as well stay at 10. I would be disappointed if Workforce was scratched again. It would seem like they were avoiding facing a decent horse at all costs if he were. The horse is better than that and deserves to take his chance.
If it were up to me there is no way I would take on SYT with Workforce in the Eclipse. Workforce is probably being campaigned for another Arc and I don't see where the Eclipse figures in that at all. The King George would surely be a better race for Workforce. As for SYT, he is clearly a great talent and I have nothing aganst the horse but AOB's comments after the Ascot race were priceless. I know he is not Vincent O'Brien but sure even AOB can manage to send a horse to Royal Ascot for a Group 1 fully fit. Or maybe he can't and he is an even more average trainer than I thought.
It's pretty much a race SYT must win don't we think? Everyone accepts Workforce is a mile and a halfer, rather than a ten furlong horse. Therefore I fully expect SYT to win this one, conditions should much favour him. Heaven knows what Aidan O'Brien will come out with should the horse get beat again.
Agreed. I don't think his reputation would survive another defeat. The $40m they paid for him might start to look like money not very well spent!
I'd fancie SYT against Workforce, I don't feel Workforce has the gears to be top class at 10f. Either way there's every possibility Workforce won't run now, and if he doesn't it will be interesting what lame excuse they come out with this time. The Tatts Gold Cup excuse was priceless, we all know Workforce would have run in that race had there been no SYT, the excuse about him not being ready was a complete load of tosh! So You Think getting beat in the POW has taken abit of a shine of this clash, but atleast SYTs supporters will get a half decent price, he may not even go off favourite
I will probably be proved totally wrong but I have always stood apart on Workforce. I said he should have gone for the Eclipse last year and I'll say again he should go for it this year. I'm amazed people can judge he's not a ten furlong horse. His first run in the Dante was a shambles and his second was just a season opener and he clearly wasn't wound up. He ran the last 10f of last year's Derby faster than any horse has done. Workforce's image is tarnished by his complete failure in the KG last year. I will not bore you with my view on that again. It's sufficient to say that it wasn't Stoute's finest hour. So You Think was beaten by Rewilding. Does anyone think Rewilding would beat Workforce over 10f? I can't see that.
And now there is talk of Canford Cliffs possibly lining up as well. This could be the clash of the year.
If these 3 line up for the Eclipse, stating the obvious, one winner, two losers. I can already see the reasons for 2 losers (I won't call them excuses). If SYT loses there can be no excuse or reason. If Workforce loses it will be because "he really needs 12f these days". If CC loses it will be because he "just didn't see out the 10f and will be returned to a mile". If either CC or Workforce wins it will be a fine achievement over 10f, provided SYT lines up and runs his race. But from a stud value viewpoint, surely the Eclipse is not the 10f race to win. Isn't the Champion Stakes more prestigious over 10f? I suppose the Champion is too close to the Arc. I'm not aware of any horse (since 1960) that has won the Champion and gone on to win the Arc, but I'm also not aware of how many have attempted it. The closest any have come (since 1960) are: 1968 Sir Ivor, placed 2nd in Arc de Triomphe 1968 1986/87 Triptych, placed 3rd in Arc de Triomphe 1986/87 1997 Pilsudski, placed 2nd Arc de Triomphe 1996/97 2006 Pride, placed 2nd Arc de Triomphe 2006 So that's Workforce out of the Champion Stakes. Which means if they do want to win a 10f race worth anything it has to be the Eclipse. I just can't see all these 3 lining up against each other over 10f.
these days the eclipse is a much more attractive race to breeders simple because the champion stakes is seen as the race you go for if your not good enough for the arc and is the first chance the classic generation get to take on their olders.Some of the classic generation have barely been 3 yr olds for a month where as by the time of the champion stakes they have strengthened and grown more and the gap between 3 and 4 is less pronounced.
Ron, with the Champion Stakes now being transferred to Ascot by those who think that they know best and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe being much more prestigious, history may not be much of an indication. Since the Arc has always been before the Champion Stakes (as far as I am aware), nobody has won the latter and gone on to win the former in the same year. Ascot’s new Champions’ Day is scheduled for 15 October, which increases the probability that the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (moved from September) is going to be on soft ground. Racing For Change might be keen to broaden racing’s appeal by coming up with a race day to compare with the first Sunday in October on the Bois de Boulogne, but this is very bad news for racing fans as many top milers will give it a miss.
The Champion Stakes is a far stronger race than the Eclipse, last years Eclipse was a dire renewal with Sri Putra chasing home Twice Over
they are both usually poor races with the occasional eclipse being quite strong ie sea the stars/RVW but usually the eclipse is the better race you only have to look at the horses that have won the champion stakes in recent years to see that
If SMS really doesn't fancy it (and history tells us that's a real possibility) he'll get lord grimthrope to state that Frankel is going to enter. SMS can then pull out Workforce claiming that it wouldn't be fair to run the Prince's bets two horses against each other. He'll then send him to Newbury the week before the King George saying he needs a bit more work.
Chippy, if they do not want to run Workforce, they will just say as much. If they say that they are going to run Frankel (very unlikely) I am reasonably sure that some hack will ask whether they are going to run Workforce as well. If they duck the race it will be to go to Saint-Cloud this Sunday or because the ground is too fast at Sandown. Khalid Abdulla has run his horses against each other on plenty of occasions – e.g. Twice Over and Byword ran in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes and the Juddmonte International last year; Commander In Chief (winner) and Tenby (odds-on favourite) ran in the 1993 Derby. If they want to go to Saint-Cloud, Workforce will have to be supplemented as he is not amongst the twenty-one entries, although St Nicholas Abbey, Cape Blanco, Sarafina and Snow Fairy are listed. Abdulla does have Redwood and Announce entered.
