Ombudsman & Ruling Court form formidable G1 Eclipse Stakes challenge

Exhilarating Royal Ascot winner Ombudsman and Classic victor Ruling Court face off in the first major clash of the season between the generations, the G1 Eclipse Stakes, at Sandown Park on Saturday, 5 July.

Four-year-old Ombudsman makes a swift return to action following a brilliant display in the G1 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes 17 days earlier, when he stormed home after meeting trouble in running to score by two lengths.

The Night Of Thunder colt returns to Sandown Park having met with his only career defeat at the course in May, in which he finished a clear second behind Almaqam on his first outing for more than eight months.

A winner on his debut for John and Thady Gosden in July, 2024, Ombudsman rose through the ranks last season, winning a Leicester novice, a Deauville Listed race and the G3 Prix du Prince d'Orange at Longchamp.

Thady Gosden said: “Ombudsman has come out of Royal Ascot in very good order and only had one run beforehand this season in the Brigadier Gerard, when he was second to Almaqam.

“The Prince Of Wales’s was a very tough race with a lot of G1 horses in there. He is still relatively inexperienced and that was his first run in a G1. We always thought he had the potential to be a horse of the class he has turned out to be and we found that out at Ascot.

“He had a few traffic problems but luckily has that turn of foot that Night Of Thunder seems to give them and picked up really well. He has plenty of speed – he’s always had it. He has improved with every start and got the mile and a quarter well last time.

“When he ran at Sandown in the Brigadier Gerard, it was a prep for Royal Ascot and the ground was a bit on the softer side, a little bit dead. He has got that turn of foot and speed which a faster surface really allows him to show.

“He is a horse that has developed quite gradually and hopefully has a bright future ahead of him. He stays a mile and a quarter, which gives us plenty of options, and we’ll have to see if he stays any further. Sandown is a stiff mile and a quarter and we’ll know more after this.”

Ruling Court also ran at Royal Ascot after missing the G1 Derby due to the ground, coming home third behind impressive winner Field Of Gold in the G1 St James’s Palace Stakes.

The Charlie Appleby-trained colt had previously inflicted a half-length defeat on the same horse in a thrilling edition of the G1 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket.

Ruling Court made an exciting debut at Sandown Park 12 months ago before finishing third in the G3 Acomb Stakes at York on his only other juvenile outing. He sauntered to an easy success on his three-year-old return in Meydan’s Listed Jumeirah 2,000 Guineas at the start of March.

Charlie Appleby said: “The tempo of the St James’s Palace Stakes was completely different to what Ruling Court encountered in the 2,000 Guineas. They went an end-to-end gallop and he never really looked comfortable throughout the race.

“He came out of Ascot well and we have been monitoring his wellbeing right up until declaration time. He has shown us in his last two pieces of work that he is in good shape. We have always wanted to step him up in trip and a mile and a quarter is probably the ideal distance to aim for as a first try over middle distances. There is only one Derby, so we obviously had a look at the mile-and-a-half route before deciding not to run at Epsom Downs due to the ground.
“Conditions at Sandown look there to suit. He has won around the course before and has a significant weight pull against the older horses, which can often come into play in an Eclipse. It’s a small but very strong field, and he’s a Classic-winning colt who doesn’t look out of place in the field.”

Unbeaten filly Victory Queen steps up in class for the same trainer in the Listed Distaff. The Kingman homebred scored by half a length at Newmarket’s Craven meeting before gamely making all at Ascot later the same month.

Charlie Appleby said: “Victory Queen comes into this on the back of a nice break, having won both her starts to date. She put up a tough performance under a penalty at Ascot and this will hopefully give us an indication of where we will be pitching for the rest of the season. She has a bit to find on the book but goes into the race in good nick.”