Donnacha O'Brien and Saxon Warrior Team Up for Eclipse

Donnacha O'Brien will be reunited with Saxon Warrior, on whom he won the QIPCO Two Thousand Guineas (G1), in the July 7 Coral-Eclipse (G1) at Sandown, when the Ballydoyle colt will clash with Epsom hero Masar for the third time. 

Having beaten Masar into third place in the Newmarket classic, Saxon Warrior finished only fourth when sent off at odds-on in the Investec Derby (G1) last month and was again a beaten favorite when third in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby (G1) last weekend.

With Ryan Moore—who rode Saxon Warrior at Epsom and again at the Curragh—on duty for Aidan O'Brien at Belmont Park, the trainer's 19-year-old son will be back on the Guineas winner, who will be tackling a mile and a quarter for the first time.

O'Brien, who also runs Cliffs of Moher (Seamie Heffernan) and Happily (Wayne Lordan) in the Sandown group 1, said July 5: "Ryan will be at Belmont on Saturday, when he will ride Mendelssohn in the Dwyer Stakes (G3) over one mile on the dirt, Hunting Horn in the Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes (G1T), and Athena in the Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes (G1T).

"He will be back to ride Gustav Klimt for us in the Prix Jean Prat (G1) at Deauville on Sunday."

William Buick has dismissed worries that dropping back in trip could count against Masar, who stayed on well when scoring over a mile and a half at Epsom last month and will be racing over a distance two furlongs shorter on Saturday.

But the jockey, who won the Bet365 Craven Stakes (G3) on Masar in April before riding him into third place in the Two Thousand Guineas, believes there could be even better to come at a mile and a quarter.

Asked about the shorter trip, he said: "I don't think that will be a problem at all for him; coming back in distance should suit him very well.

"He's a high-quality winner over a mile, and the one question mark I had personally going into the Derby was whether he would stay, given he has so much raw speed and pace.

"It was impressive to see how well he saw out the race at Epsom, and personally I think coming back to 10 furlongs would bring out some more improvement, because I think his big attribute is his speed and raw natural ability. He's a real athlete."

Masar is a best-priced 15-8 favourite for the Eclipse, and Buick is confident the Charlie Appleby-trained 3-year-old is in top form for his latest challenge.

"Everyone seems very happy," he said in an interview with Sky Sports Radio in Australia. "Charlie and all the people close to the horse seem very happy with the horse, the vibes have been very good.

"He's a pretty hard horse, he's a very tough horse, and he seems to take everything in his stride."

The ground at Sandown remained officially good to firm on Thursday, and clerk of the course Andrew Cooper said: "There's an outside chance of some rain, but the most common outcome is that it's going to be dry and hot.

"I have access to records which date back to 1997, and June 2018 was not just the driest June but the driest month full stop since then. We recorded 0.4 millimeters of rain throughout the whole month."

Buick is also looking forward to riding Royal Ascot winner Blue Point in next week's Darley July Cup (G1) at Newmarket and admitted: "I went into the King's Stand (G1) thinking that five furlongs might be a little bit sharp for him.

"He saw the trip out very well at Ascot, and we have always thought that six furlongs is his optimum trip. I can't see the track being a problem for him."