Godolphin want rain for Farhh
The lightly-raced four-year-old has been supplemented for the Coral-Eclipse following his fine effort at Royal Ascot.
He was an unlucky third in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes when he made the leap from handicaps to the top level.
The Pivotal colt, trained by Saeed bin Suroor, had previously gained three impressive victories, including an easy six-length success under top weight in the Thirsk Hunt Cup, in a restricted career.
He will again be ridden by Frankie Dettori.
“Farhh came out his latest run sound and has looked well since Royal Ascot,” Bin Suroor said.
“He is taking on some very good horses again but he showed in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes that he is an improving horse and that a mile and a quarter suits him well.
“Softer ground is the key for him and I hope that there is plenty of rain before the weekend.”
Godolphin also have Dubai World Cup winner Monterosso and City Style, both trained by Mahoood Al Zarooni, among 15 horses still in the historic mile-and-a-quarter showpiece.
So You Think, last year’s winner and conqueror of Farhh at Royal Ascot, heads four possibles from the Aidan O’Brien stable along with Daddy Long Legs, Windsor Palace and Robin Hood.
The in-form John Gosden has earmarked the race for last year’s King George winner Nathaniel, while 2010 Eclipse scorer Twice Over is also a likely runner for the Henry Cecil team.
Andrew Balding’s Bonfire and the Brian Meehan-trained Cogito are, along with Daddy Long Legs, the three-year-old possibles.
The only overseas contender is the Alain de Royer-Dupre-trained Giofra, while Cityscape, Crackerjack King and Sri Putra are other credible challengers.
Sandown officials say it is difficult to predict this stage how much rain they will get.
“I’m finding it quite hard to gauge quite what volume (of rain) we’re going to see,” Sandown director of racing Andrew Cooper said.
“There’s some fairly conflicting forecasts. At the lower end we might not see a great deal (of rain) but, at the high end, there could be several spells of quite heavy rain.
“Having walked Sandown, I would say it was good to firm, good, after pretty much a dry weekend.
“Probably between now and the end of the week we might see something between five and 10 millimetres of rain, which will mean we are good-ish ground.”
