It is in June, July and August that UK racecourses tend to host the most Group 1 races, and there are some racecourses that do tend to get some of the best races.
At the Sandown racecourse they do of course host the annual Eclipse Stakes which is a race that is run over one mile one furlong and 209 yards and is open to horses that are three years and older, and each year there are plenty of horses that are entered into that race.
Due to the nature of the race it can be a very hard one for punters to try and predict the winner of, however most punters will always want to follow the smart money so to speak and will simply back the favourite or second favourite.
Long term bets can of course also be placed on the Eclipse Stakes race and by making use of the ante post betting markets there is always going to be value to be had, either when backing a horse to win or when backing a horse each-way, just keep in mind the each-way betting terms on this race can and do vary from bookie to bookie.
Past Winners of the Eclipse Stakes
Some much more recent past winners of this race include the 2014 winner Mukhadram who was a five year old at the time and the jockey that day was Paul Hanagan. The following year in 2015 Golden Horn won ridden by Frankie Dettori.
As for the 2016 winner that was Hawkbill ridden by William Buick and then in 2017 Ulysses ridden by Jim Crowley won this face and then in 2018 it was Roaring Lion ridden by Oisin Murphy and trained by John Gosden and owned by Qatar Racing that won this race with a recorded time of 2:04.04.
Eclipse Stakes Facts and Figures
To date, no horse has ever won this race three times, however over the years there have been quite a number of horses that have managed to win it twice, the first horses to do so was Orme back in 1892 and 1893 then it was the turn of Buchan in 1919 and 1920 to rattle up a quick fire double.
Polyphontes won the race in 1924 and 1925 and much more recently Mtoto won it in 1987 and 1988, then it was Halling that was the last horses to win this race twice in the years 1995 and 1996.
Jockeys however have a much better track record at winning this race several times, and it is Lester Piggot that holds the current record for the most winning rides in the Eclipse Stakes having won it a total of seven times in total.
As for just which trainer has had the most luck in the Eclipse Stakes, well you have to look back to the early part of the 1900’s to discover that leading trainer who was for reference Alec Taylor, Junior who won it six times.
However, that record was matched in 2017 when Sir Michael Stoute trained the winner of this race in 2017 that winner being Ulysses.
