7 hours ago
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Delacroix overcame traffic problems to deny Ombudsman in a pulsating latest edition of the Group 1 Coral-Eclipse at Sandown.
A quality field of six runners went to post for a Group One contest that traditionally gives the Classic generation a first chance to meet their elders and this year's renewal was no exception, with four three-year-olds taking on two top-class older horses in Ombudsman and Sosie.
Ombudsman was the 6-4 favourite to supplement his brilliant success in the Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot and quickened up to lead inside the final furlong - but having looked to be struggling at the rear of the field early in the straight, Derby disappointment Delacroix (3-1) came with a wet sail under a power-packed Moore drive to get up by a neck.
"It wasn't the first or the second or the third plan! He began okay, but nobody really wanted to make the running and there was three of us in a line," Moore said.
"Me and William [Buick, on Ombudsman] wanted the same position and I had to give way. He was on an older, bigger horse so I thought we'd wait and go around.
"They got first run on me and he's obviously a very good horse with a good turn of foot. He quickened up really well.
"I think 10 furlongs is fine and if anything he could probably run over shorter. He's a horse we've always held in high regard and he was the only horse in this race that hadn't won a Group One, but he'd threatened to and he's obviously out of a great racemare [Tepin] and by Dubawi."
Rumstar leads Sandown Charge for Portman
Rumstar finished with a flourish to get back on the winning trail in the Coral Charge.
Having finished last season with a Listed success in Ascot's Rous Stakes, Jonathan Portman's sprinter picked up where he left off when landing the Group Three Palace House at Newmarket in May.
The five-year-old subsequently struggled in the Temple Stakes at Haydock and the King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot, but dropping back to Group Three class, the 11-2 shot picked up well inside the last of five furlongs to get up and beat the front-running She's Quality by three-quarters of a length.
Portman felt Rumstar had valid reasons for his last two runs, saying: "Like with every sprint race, everything needs to go just right on the day and at Haydock it didn't.
"I don't think he likes Haydock and I certainly don't! At Royal Ascot I just think he got into top gear a bit too soon, he was a bit wide and it just didn't work for him.
"We made a conscious decision today to hang on to him a bit and come through them, which is very risky at Sandown because if you don't get that run you can hit a bit of traffic.
"Rob [Hornby, winning jockey] found that gap, he did it to perfection. He knows the horse well and he loves the horse.
"We didn't enter him at Goodwood, we thought five furlongs there might not suit him."
