Now deep into the 2025 flat campaign, barely a week passes by without at least one top-tier Group 1 event. Hot on the heels of the Classic showdown in the Irish Derby, the Esher venue of Sandown draws the eye of the racing world on the first weekend in July.
Won by legendary names including Sea The Stars, Mill Reef, Brigadier Gerard, and Nashwan, the Coral-Eclipse will dominate the discussion this coming week. However, whilst falling firmly into the not-to-be-missed category, this week isn’t all about the Sandown showstopper. Elsewhere, we have a relative feast of pattern class midweek highlights, whilst Haydock and Beverly complement the Saturday feature with a couple of excellent events of their own.
Midweek Highlights Aplenty
As tends to be the case during the summer months, Monday eases racing fans into the week with a collection of competitive yet run-of-the-mill cards. However, with the big Group 1 edging ever closer, the quality begins to increase as June turns to July.
Tuesday 1st July: Listed Class Double from Chelmsford and Roscommon
Following a low-key afternoon, Roscommon and Chelmsford step in to provide a rapid-fire Listed class double on Tuesday evening.
Roscommon is the first to step into the spotlight with the 1m4f Lenebane Stakes. Paddy Twomey has Purple Lily and Royal Entry amongst the current entries as he bids to add to his 2022 and 2024 wins in this race. Other notables include Square d’Aboni, from the Ralph Beckett operation, and Uluru, from the yard of Joseph O’Brien, who claimed back-to-back editions in 2019 and 2020.
A mere 22 minutes after the Roscommon feature, a field of fillies and mares goes under starters’ orders for the Queen Charlotte Fillies’ Stakes. Standouts among the recent winners include Highfield Princess (2021), who subsequently bagged four Group 1 events, and 1,000 Guineas heroine Billesdon Brook (2019).
Tipperary Top of the Midweek Bill
Kicking off on Tuesday, the three-day fixture at Tipperary offers something to satisfy lovers of both codes.
The Listed Coolmore Stud Tipperary Stakes is the pick of the flat fare as a field of speedy juveniles lock horns over five furlongs. Aidan O’Brien claimed the 2018 edition with subsequent Vintage Stakes winner Land Force and has Kansas and First Approach entered this year. However, the most eye-catching runner is the Fozzy Stack youngster Cardiff By The Sea, who finished an excellent fourth in the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot.
There aren’t many Grade 3 Hurdle events around at this time of year, but just such a race serves as the headline act on the Thursday card at Tipperary. With six wins in the past 11 years, Willie Mullins sits atop the all-time trainers’ table.
Sandown in The Saturday Spotlight
Going under starters on Friday afternoon, the two-day meeting at Sandown sets the ball rolling with the Listed Class trio of the Dragon Stakes, Gala Stakes, and Coral Marathon. Saturday then sees the fixture explode into life with the biggest race of the year at the Esher venue.
Always amongst the most anticipated 1m2f contests of the season, the £1 million Coral-Eclipse is shaping up to be a vintage renewal in 2025. With Prince Of Wales’s Stakes champ Ombudsman, French stars Sosie and Calandagan, forgotten horse Economics, and more amongst the current entries, we have all the ingredients for a summer sizzler. The Listed Distaff Stakes and Group 3 Coral Charge top a quality undercard.
Lancashire Oaks Adds to Cracking Weekend
Sandown may hog the headlines, but moving further north, we find one of the standout fixtures of the year at the Merseyside venue of Haydock. In common with its Epsom namesake, the Lancashire Oaks takes place over the 1m4f trip. However, unlike the Classic affair, this race sees a clash of the generations as the three-year-olds tackle the older performers. With a record-setting ten wins, John Gosden has been the trainer to follow in this event. For handicapping fans, the chief support of the Old Newton Cup invariably presents a cracking puzzle to solve.
Heading around the tracks on Saturday reveals further highlights in the shape of the Listed Charlie Wood Stakes from Beverley and the Pat Smullen Stakes from Naas – a race named in honour of the much-loved rider, who tragically passed away in 2020.
