Bonfire bids to get back on track in Coral-Eclipse at Sandown
After being crushed in the Investec Derby at Epsom last month, Andrew Balding’s 3-year-old is aiming to put his campaign back on the winning ways in the Group 1 Coral-Eclipse, taking place at Sandown on Saturday, July 7th.
The Group 1 meeting has attracted 10 superstar runners, but Bonfire’s chances are hard to ignore. On good to soft, the 1m2f7y will be started at 15:45 (GMT). The £241,585 event is a great opportunity for the bay colt to get his act together, but it will
be interesting to see how he handles the track.
Prior to his trouncing at the hands of Camelot at Epsom, the Highclere Thoroughbred Racing-Pocahontas-owned clinched a close win in the Group 2 Betfred Dante Stakes.
Failing to continue his good form, he was awful in the Derby. The runner was not impressive at all, as he stayed mostly in the back row. He was outpaced by the leading runners a couple of furlongs before the wire and as a result, his chances became slim
dramatically.
Under Jimmy Fortune, he got weakened in the final moments, and was in no position to create any serious trouble for the opponents. Consequently, he ended up sixth on the table.
An embarrassing loss would have dented his confidence to some extent, nonetheless, the handler is hopeful for a positive result. Balding was not reluctant to admit Bonfire's below part effort last time, but claimed that the colt is in good position to handle
the Sandown track quite nicely.
"He didn't give his running at Epsom [in the Derby] for whatever reason, the most obvious being that he just didn't handle the track. He's working well and I'm really looking forward to taking on the older horses with him,” the handler said ahead of Saturday’s
big event.
He continued: "He's talented, but so are the opposition, so we'll find out where we stand. He's setting back to one mile two, which he won over in the Dante, so trip, ground and track should suit this time."
Manduro’s son is yet to open his account at the highest level. On the other hand, Farhh is being considered as the strongest contestant following his strong late run to finish third at Royal Ascot last month.
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