Prince of Wales's hero Ombudsman heads Coral Eclipse field

June 30, 2025

Prince of Wales’s hero Ombudsman heads a field of 11 in Saturday’s Coral Eclipse at the five-day confirmation stage.

John and Thady Gosden’s four-year-old showcased an electric turn of foot to win the £1 million race at Royal Ascot on June 18, shooting right to the top of the market for the Sandown showpiece this weekend.

If declared, Ombudsman will head to the Eclipse just 17 days after landing the first Group 1 of his career but the turnaround should be no problem for the lightly-raced colt who has had just six starts since debuting at Newmarket last June.

He was a beaten favourite on reappearance in the Brigadier Gerard Stakes at Sandown earlier this season – his first and only defeat – when falling short to Ed Walker’s race-fit Almaqam, who will also take his place in the Eclipse.

Ombudsman heads the ante-post market at 6/4 with the top betting sites in Ireland, closely followed by French raider Sosie at 4/1 who is expected to make the trip over the channel.

Andre Fabre’s son of Sea The Stars is undefeated in two Group 1 outings as a four-year-old after rounding off his Classic campaign with a fourth-place finish in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe last October.

Sosie saw off Wathnan Racing’s Map Of Stars by a neck at Longchamp in April, a subsequent fourth in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes.

Prix du Jockey Club winner Camille Pissarro will be one of two runners for Aidan O’Brien, also saddling Delacroix who aims to bounce back from a disappointing showing in the Epsom Derby when favourite.

Anmaat was a valiant runner-up to Ombudsman at Ascot and could also feature but his handler Owen Burrows is on weather watch in the build-up to Saturday, declaring the seven-year-old will only take his chance if the rain arrives.

2,000 Guineas champion Ruling Court holds an entry, last seen finishing third to Field Of Gold in the St James’s Palace Stakes after missing an intended assignment in the Derby with a belated step up in trip beyond a mile on the cards.

Like Anmaat, last year’s Tattersalls Gold Cup winner White Birch needs rainfall to contest the prize while Ralph Beckett’s Derby fifth Stanhope Gardens could come back down in trip.

Jessica Harrington’s Hotazhell, who won the Futurity Trophy Stakes as a juvenile and made a solid reappearance when third in the Irish 2,000 Guineas in May, is another potential challenger.