Golden Horn stays perfect with Coral-Eclipse win

Golden Horn kept his perfect record intact and beat older horses in his first try, shrugging off a stern challenge from The Grey Gatsby to win the Group 1 Coral-Eclipse Stakes on Saturday at Sandown Park in England.

Golden Horn, trained by John Gosden for Anthony Oppenheimer and ridden by Frankie Dettori, is the first horse since Sea the Stars in 2006 to pull off an Epsom Derby-Eclipse Double. As a 3-year-old facing elders, he got an 11-pound weight break from the rest of the field, including The Grey Gatsby.

The weight difference might have shown in the last furlong, during which Golden Horn, after The Grey Gatsby had pulled nearly even a quarter-mile out, edged away from his chief rival. By the end of one mile, two furlongs, and a few yards, Golden Horn had 3 1/2 lengths on a multiple Group 1 winner who was coming off a strong performance at Royal Ascot.

Even accounting for the weight break, it was another sterling performance from Golden Horn, who in a race lacking frontrunners, had to make his own pace after breaking somewhat slowly. That was a total tactical change, Golden Horn having come from well behind in his four previous wins, but the colt, by Cape Cross out of Fleche d’Or, appeared to have no trouble adapting. The Grey Gatsby raced closest to him throughout, threatening to push past as the field swung right-handed into the homestretch, but Golden Horn, heavily favored, proved to be too much horse. The Grey Gatsby had 4 1/2 lengths on Western Hymn, with Cougar Mountain fourth and Tullius fifth.

Golden Horn obviously is among the best 3-year-olds in the world this year, and he has begun to have the look of a generational talent. The Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe is the long-term goal, with Gosden naming the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes on July 25 at Ascot – a race Gosden won last year with Taghrooda – as a potential next start, provided Golden Horn’s campaign has not taken a toll. It hasn’t, according to Dettori, who said the colt has yet to get tired in a race or a work and still might have more to give.

The Grey Gatsby is expected to have more time between starts, his connections targeting the Juddmonte International in August at York.