The Godolphin owned Farhh has been promoted to favouritism for the Group 1 £400,000 Coral – Eclipse (1 mile 2 furlongs 7 yards) at Sandown on Saturday with the announcement that So You Think won’t run and has been be retired to stud.
The Aidan O’Brien stable confirmed that So You Think is suffering from a muscle compliant in his hind quarters and will be sent to quarantine on the weekend to prepare for his trip to Australia where he will take up stud duties in the Hunter Valley for Coolmore.
The Saeed Bin Suroor trained Farhh is now the 9-4 favourite for the Eclipse and could start shorter if trainer John Gosden decides not to run the 10-3 second pick Nathaniel because of the wet track conditions as well as the timing of the Eclipse.
“Normally there is three weeks between the Eclipse and the King George, but this year there is only two,” Gosden said.
“That is the big factor playing on my mind because if you get a hard race in the Eclipse on your first run of the year it’s a little tough to say, ‘I’ll be back for the King George’. At this stage I’d be mindful of that fact.”
“Obviously he missed his prep race which is not ideal. I think to ask a horse like this first time out against horses that are already battle hardened this year is quite a big ask.”
The lightly raced Farhh is going into Saturday’s Eclipse with a third to So You Think in the Group 1 £400,000 150th Anniversary Of Prince Of Wales’s Stakes (1 mile 2 furlongs) at Royal Ascot on June 20 and Bin Suroor is hoping the rain continues.
“Farhh came out of his latest run sound and has looked well since Royal Ascot. 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,” Bin Suroor said.
“Softer ground is the key for him and I hope that there is plenty of rain before the weekend.”
Farhh will again be ridden by top jockey Frankie Dettori who has been granted the honour of carrying the Olympic Flame on a circuit of Ascot racecourse when it arrives at Ascot High Street on its way to the Olympic Stadium in London.
“It is an honour and a privilege to be invited to carry the Olympic flame, especially at a track that holds such happy memories for me. I’ll be watching when the flame reaches its final destination and the Olympic Games can begin,” Dettori said.
