17:55 Unfortunately the good afternoons racing is now being spoilt with couple of mass brawls kicking off - needless to say it is a small minority fuelled by booze. What a shame a minority spoil it for the majority.

17:45 A tight handicap to end proceedings this afternoon and it produced an exciting finish as well.

Palmerin and American were stride for stride, head to head from the furlong and it looked like being a battle to the line.

American Art was the first to blink and Palermin ended up taking the race by ¾ length from American Art.

There was also a battle for third and fourth an din that case neither Greylami nor the favourite St Jean Cap Ferrat blinked and it was another for the judge with the favourite just losing out.

17:25 If you backed Taken in the last at Sandown he slipped and fell over walking down to the parade ring and is very much on his toes.

17:15 The Stewards Enquiry into the 4:30 decided the interference between the first two was accidental.

17:10 Our first odds-on favourite of the afternoon and it obliged, giving a quick fire double for trainer Sir Michael Stoute and jockey Ryan “laughing boy” Moore with Main Aim.

In truth I have seen more convincing odds-on winners but at the end of the day a winner is a winner and there aren’t any points for artistic impression.

It was a muddling sort of race with Moore happy to settle the favourite at the rear as the lead changed several times in the early exchanges of the seven furlong event.

Moore hit the front inside the final furlong although Richard Hughes on The Queen’s Firestreak dis exactly that and streaked inside the final furlong almost causing an upset.

16:50 I can breath again, the result stands.

16:40 Race five was the longest race on the card, a two mile listed race.

Unfortunately we had three non-runners which reduced the field to seven.

Nonetheless it produced a thrilling finish.

Most of the race they were running in Indian File with the order hardly changing at all for the first mile and a half, namely Tungsten Strike , Finalmente, the favourite Samuel, Raincoat, Distinction, Ajaan and Balkan Knight. They were so strung out there must have been a good twenty lengths between first and last down the back straight.

Half a mile from home the favourite ran on into second, however from the rear Ryan Moore launched a menacing move through the field.

Eddie Ahern had to work very hard to cajole Samuel into the lead but he achieved what he wanted. Distinction, meanwhile continued his relentless run and, although drifting to his right, managed to hit the front in the last few yards to win by a short head.

16:10 Some reaction to the big race.

Winning jockey Johnny Murtagh said: "We've got some marvellous horses and this is another one. "I know people might be saying this isn't the strongest Group One, but try winning one.

"They went a nice pace and we got to the front but he idled a bit so I'd say there would be a bit more to come from this horse," he told Channel Four.

Trainer of the runner-up Henry Cecil was a gentleman as always, saying: "He just got headed on the line. "I think he put his head back in front of the other horse again but Mount Nelson just came back again.

"He's run a blinder and he's in everything now but we haven't decided what to do."

16:00 A fillies listed race followed the big one, with some very interesting betting.

The tissue favourite, Visit, drifted like the Maris Celeste – quoted 9/4 on the tissue she was sent off at 6/1 and name your own price.

Melodramatic was sent off favourite, although she turned out to be a disappointing favourite after being with the pace early doors she only managed to finish sixth.

Rosaleen under Frankie Dettori was the one to make the charge for home a furlong out – ironically the only serious challenger was the drifting Visit who Ryan Moore sent on with a blistering run and she only failed by a neck to nail the winner.

Illusion, who had led for most of the race took third.    

15:25 Well I am breathless, we anticipated a close race but I don’t think anyone appreciated just how close it would be, with the lead changing three times in the final half furlong and, yes you guessed, the O’Brien team taking another big race, his twelfth Group One of the season.

All credit must go to Johnny Murtagh, who timed his run on Mount Nelson perfectly to grab the spoils in the final stride from the favourite Phoenix Tower under Ryan Moore.
However thirty yards earlier it was Campanologist, under Frankie Dettori, who was leading.

In the early stages there was something of a surprise as many had expected Frankie to make the running on Campanologist, as he has successfully done at Ascot.

However it was Multidimensional and Maraahel who made the early going with Frankie happy to settle in third or fourth place.

As they turned for home the principles were all in a position from where they could win the race and it was impossible to call the winner.

Two out it was still Multidimensional in the lead but he was being stalked by the Goldolphin blue of Campanologist who was soon leading with the favourite Phoenix Tower not far behind.

At this stage Mount Nelson was still back in the pack, Johnny Murtagh biding his time.

Inside the furlong Murtagh launched his challenge, as did Ted Durcan on Phoenix Tower.

When Phoenix Tower got his head in front of Campanologist it looked all over because although Mount Nelson had launched his run it seemed he had left it too late.

What a silly thought, under a driving ride from Murtagh he put his nose in front where it mattered on the line.

Frankie Dettori couldn't even manage third place in the end as he was passed just before the line by the fast finishing Pipedreamer.

It took Felix Wheeler a while to make the call and as he deliberated the finish was shown again on the big screen – from the replay the result was clear and an almighty roar went up which was repeated seconds later when the official result was announced.

He may have gone off the second favourite but the result has hurt the bookies.

15:00 It's the big one next, as I said earlier it may be lacking in quality but it makes up for it in competitiveness.

14:50 The big handicap of the afternoon must have pleased the handicapper as we had a blanket finish for second place, although the winner was clearly obvious.

The race started with Celtic Sultan setting the early pace under Ted Durcan, however it seemed he was setting his own pace as the remaining 14 runners weren’t interested in keeping him company, so by the time they began the turn out of the back straight he has a six length lead.

As expected by two out he had come back to his field and the race proper began with a number making runs.

One of the more disappointing was Fifteen Love, under Richard Hughes, who had been tucked in for most of the race. When a gap eventually appeared the colt did not appear to have enough speed to see it through.

Up front it was a four way go and even fifty yards out it was almost impossible to call the winner.

It was Lovelace under Jimmy Fortune who managed to put in the decisive effort, coming home 1¼ lengths clear of his rivals. This was another win for Mark Johnston, who has clearly managed to get over his recent flat patch.

It was a more difficult call for the minor places with Ace Of Hearts,  favourite Masaalek and Mark Johnston’s other runner Dubai’s Touch passing the line in that order but all separated by inches.

It was bad luck for backers of the fourth as two non-runners reduced the field from seventeen to fifteen runners.

14:30 A significant jockey change in the second race, Frankie Dettori replaces Johnny Murtagh on Jack Junior.

Also some very open betting, going 5/1 the field.

14:15 Right the action is underway with a decent little five furlong sprint to get us off.

The reasonably well backed favourite was Hoh Mike from the Michael Bell yard and ridden by joint champion jockey Jamie Spencer.

Had you backed the favourite you would have felt inclined to tear up your betting slip inside the first half furlong as he was very slowly away.

Day By Day under Darryll Holland  the decent pace, tracked by the reluctant Peace Offering, who almost had to be carried into the stalls.

As often happens in Sandown sprints the race really developed at the half way stage and the first eyecatcher was the favourite Hoh Mike who came with an decent run only to flatter to deceive, arguably having been given too much to do by Spencer.

Ancien Regime, under Frankie Dettori and Prime Defender under Michael Hills are the ones who came with the best runs, crossing the line together and bringing judge Felix Wheeler into action early on.

12:30 I am beginning to wonder if I am at a race meeting or a fashion show? The focus at the moment is certainly on fashion, hopefully racing will come to the fore later on.

It is still nice and sunny and the crowds are beginning to take their places.

12:10 Some more non-runners, including Literato from the big race, although not wholly unexpected.

11:15 Good morning from Sandown Park on Coral Eclipse day. The weather is currently sunny with some clouds.

We have seven non-runners so far, details on the right.

The Eclipse looks to be an intersting renewal. No really big names this year but very competitive all the same. Cases can be made for several of the runners.

The O'Brien contender Mount Nelson will be popular and there will also be support for the Goldolphin blue, especially Frankie's mount Campanologist, a winner at Ascot 15 days ago.

Henry Cecil runs two, both with decent chances and it is one of his, Phoenix Tower, that will have the handicap of carrying my money.

The one horse I am looking forward to seeing later on is Buddy Holly, not to be confused with the hurdler of the late 80's early 90's. Winner of three of his five runs he has caught the eye more than once, this will be the first time I see him live.

Return to race archive

Non-Runners

2:10
5 Moorhouse Lad (lame)
9 Stoneacre Lad (temperature)

2:40
7 Gold Sovereign (going)
16 Huzzah (going)

3:20
1 Literato (going)

4:30
6 Eastern Anthem (going)
8 Self Defense (going)
9 Supersonic Dave (going)

5:05
6 Kalahari Gold
10 Non Sucre (coughing)

5:35
3 Rochefort
4 Irish Mayhem
6 Asfurah's Dream (lame)

Results

2:10

1st 12 Ancien Regime 3/1
2nd 8 Prime Defender 12/1
3rd 2 Hoh Mike 13/8 fav
10 Ran NR's 5 & 9
Distances neck & 1/2L
Tote
Win £4.10
Place £1.70 £3.80 £1.10
Exacta £53.50

2:40

1st 2 Lovelace 18/1
2nd 9 Ace Of Hearts 16/1
3rd 15 Masaalek 9/2 fav
15 Ran NR's 7 & 16
Distances 1 1/4L & head
Tote
Win £24.70
Place £6.60 £5.20 £2.50
Exacta £475.30

3:20 Coral Eclipse Stakes

1st 3 Mount Nelson 7/2
2nd 5 Phoenix Tower 5/2fav
3rd 6 Pipedreamer 4/1
8 Ran NR 1
Distances short head & 1L
Tote
Win £4.50
Place £1.80 £1.10 £2.60
Exacta £15.00

3:55 The Distaff Stakes

1st 8 Rosaleen 9/1
2nd 1 Visit 6/1
3rd 3 Illusion 13/2
11 Ran
Distances neck & 3/4
Tote
Win £10.70
Place £2.50 £2.70 £2.90
Exacta £73.60

4:30

1st 2 Distinction 7/2
2nd 3 Samuel 11/4 fav
7 Ran NR's 6 , 8 & 9
Distances Short head
Tote
Win £4.30
Place £2.50 £2.10
Exacta £14.00
Result stands

5:05

1st 5 Main Art 4/6 fav
2nd 3 Firestreak 9/1
3rd 7 Brassini 25/1
9 Ran NR's 6 & 10
Distances neck & 1 1/2L
Tote
Win £1.80
Place £1.10 £1.90 £5.40
Exacta £7.60

5:35

1st 14 Palmerin 8/1
2nd 9 American Art 25/1
3rd 8 Greylami 16/1
12 Ran NR's 3, 4 & 6
Distances 3/4L & 2 1/2L
Tote
Win £10.60
Place £2.70 £7.90 £5.00
Exacta £320.70