What is a better way to honour a racing horse than to name an entire race after him? And not just any race, but one of the pinnacles of summer flat racing in Britain. This is exactly where the Coral – Eclipse race got its name from.
Established in 1886, Coral – Eclipse race was named after an 18th century racehorse Eclipse who won all of the 18 races he participated in. The race is also known as the Eclipse Stakes and is a part of the Coral – Eclipse Day, or Coral Summer Festival, that takes place at Sandown Park horse racing course every year in early July.
This year the Coral Summer Festival falls on Saturday, 5 July. It will host seven races, with three of them classified as Class 1, including, of course, the Eclipse Stakes.
Key Dates & Timings
The Coral Summer Festival marks the beginning of the second month of summer and lasts for one day. It includes seven races and is a highlight among the horse racing fixtures of the season. Located in the picturesque locale of Surrey, Sandown Park racing course welcomes racers and race goers for a day full of on the course and off the course excitement.
The gate will open at 11:00 am local time. The racing day starts at 1:50 pm with the Coral Charge, also known as the Sprint Stakes in the registration form. The Coral – Eclipse Race will take off at 3:35 pm, while the last race of the day will start at 5:15 pm.
The daily race card for the event is as follows:
Saturday, 5 July
| Time | Race | Distance | Conditions |
| 1:50 pm | THE CORAL CHARGE (CLASS 1) (Group 3) (Registered as the Sprint Stakes) (CL 1) | 5f 10y | 3YO+ £85,000.00 |
| 2:25 pm | THE CORAL CHALLENGE (HANDICAP) (CLASS 2) (CL 2) | 1m | 3YO+ £125,000.00 |
| 3:00 pm | THE CORAL DISTAFF (CLASS 1) (Listed Race) (CL 1) | 1m | 3YO £55,000.00 |
| 3:35 pm | THE CORAL-ECLIPSE (CLASS 1) (Group 1) (CL 1) | 1m 1f 209y | 3YO+ £1,000,000.00 |
| 4:12 pm | THE CORAL CELEBRATING 50 YEAR ECLIPSE SPONSORSHIP HANDICAP STAKES (CLASS 3) (CL 3) | 7f | 3YO £25,000.00 Rating 71-90 |
| 4:45 pm | THE CORAL ‘PIPPED-AT-THE-POST’ AND WIN HANDICAP STAKES (CLASS 4) (CL 4) | 1m 1f 209y | 3YO £22,000.00 Rating 61-80 |
| 5:15 pm | THE CORAL GOLDEN REWARDS SHAKER HANDICAP STAKES (CLASS 2) (CL 2) | 1m 1f 209y | 3YO+ £45,000.00 Rating 86-105 |
How to Buy Tickets
Sandown Park offers three enclosures for the event: the Grandstand Enclosure, the Premier Enclosure, and the exclusive 1875 Lounge. However, at this point the latter two have already been sold out. This is not surprising at all, as both these venues offer excellent opportunities for the race goers, from magnificent views of the race track and finishing line to Parade Ring viewing, catering, and entertainment after the race.
Tickets for the Grandstand Enclosure start from £34 for one adult and £30.60 for a group of six and come with a lot of perks too. You can still purchase them on the official website of the race.
Sandown Park also offers a variety of hospitality options, however, much like the admission tickets, most of the restaurant and fine dining experiences have been sold out. You can still get the Premier Lounge Experience starting from £169.00.
After the celebration of the race winners goes down, there will still be a lot left to do at the Sandown Park racecourse! You are in for an evening full of entertainment, with the brilliant Ellie Sax taking the centrestage and transforming the racecourse into a perfect summer party.
Travel and Transport Guide
The Coral Summer Festival is conducted at the Sandown Park racecourse at the following address: Sandown Park Racecourse, Portsmouth Rd, Esher, Surrey, KT10 9AJ. You can reach your destination by various means of transportation from different directions.
Trains
You can arrive in Esher by train from London Waterloo in about 25 minutes or from Woking or Guildford in the south. The Esher Train Station is only a ten minute walk away from the entrances to the horse racing course. You will find yourself outside Zones 1 – 6. There are also taxis available at the Esher Train Station.
Cars
If you are travelling from London, the best course for you is to take the A3 and follow the brown venue signs to Sandown Park. Exit A3 on to the A307, then keep following the brown venue signs. You can take another possible route from the M25, exit at Junction 10, take the A3 towards London, but exit onto the A307 and follow the brown venue signs.
Sandown Park offers several parking options, including disabled parking spaces.
Air
If you are travelling by air to London, the racing course is easily accessible both from the London Heathrow Airport and London Gatwick Airport. A drive from the former will take about 30 minutes and about 45 minutes from the latter. You can also take a train from both airports.
If you wish to arrive by helicopter, you should make arrangements with the racecourse management in advance.
Featured Race at Coral Summer Festival
Coral Summer Festival includes 7 races conducted during one day of the event. The variety of conditions, tracks, and runners caters to different interests and preferences of all Sandown Park visitors.
The Eclipse Stakes
The race that gave the start to the entire event is the midpoint of the day. It is a Group 1 flat horse race that is run over the distance of 1 mile, 1 furlong and 209 yards (2,002 metres). It accepts horses of both genders if they are three years or older. Since 1976 it has been sponsored by Coral, which reflects in its modern official name.
In its inaugural year of 1886 the Eclipse Stakes became known as the richest ever horse race in Britain. Its impressive prize fund of £10,000 was donated by British banker and thoroughbred race horse breeder Leopold de Rothschild.
From its inception onwards, Eclipse Stakes has seen some renowned participants on its track. From Bendigo, who won the inaugural race, to Ayrshire, Ard Patrick, Sceptre, Rock Sand, and the most recent winner City of Troy, Coral – Eclipse boasts of some of the best names in horse racing competing for the title.
Currently, there are 11 runners announced to compete in this year’s race, but this number may change before the day of the race. Some jockeys for the race have already been announced, while others are still to be confirmed.
This year all eyes are on Ombudsman, a four year old male horse from Ireland. Beginning from his maiden race, he showed stellar results in the 2024 season, winning all four races he participated in. The only second place in his career so far happened on 29 May 2025 at Sandown Park, the very place where he is going to compete in the Eclipse Stakes this weekend. But after Ombudsman won the Group 1 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot on 18 June, he became the highest ranked horse in Europe and is largely seen as the favourite for the Coral – Eclipse race.
The current full list of contenders, their jockeys and trainers runs as follows:
- Almaqam (age 4, jockey Oisin Murphy, trainer Ed Walker)
- Anmaat (age 7, jockey Jim Crowley, trainer Owen Burrows)
- Ombudsman (age 4, jockey William Buick, trainer John & Thady Gosden)
- Sosie (age 4, jockey unannounced, trainer André Fabre)
- White Birch (age 5, jockey Colin Keane, trainer John Murphy)
- Camille Pissarro (age 3, jockey unannounced, trainer Adrien O’Brien)
- Delacroix (age 3, jockey unannounced, trainer Adrien O’Brien)
- Expanded (age 3, jockey unannounced, trainer Adrien O’Brien)
- Hotazhell (age 3, jockey Shane Foley, trainer Mrs Jessica Harrington)
- Ruling Court (age 3, jockey unannounced, trainer Charlie Appleby)
- Stanhope Gardens (age 3, jockey unannounced, trainer Ralph Beckett)
Betting at the Coral Summer Festival
And of course, what horse racing goes without a bit of betting excitement. Sandown Park will offer bookmaker outlets on the course during the event. Even though the rest of the racecourse is cashless, the bookmakers will accept cash. You can also place your bets on various online betting platforms that offer horse race betting markets.
At 7bet, we offer a wide range of horse race betting markets both for domestic and international events.
Please note that odds for the Coral Summer Festival will be available closer to the event date.
Betting at Coral Summer Festival includes various horse betting markets, with some of the most popular being:
- Win: Here punters place their bets on the horse they think will win a single race.
- Place: With this betting market, bettors are trying to predict which horse will place in the top two to four (depending on the amount of runners) in a single race.
- First Two (or First Three): This wager will win if the bettor can predict the first two (or three) horses to come to the finish line in the right order.
- Two From Three: With this bet, punters only have to predict any two of the first three horses to finish in order to win.
Always remember to gamble responsibly and treat betting as a form of entertainment and not means for financial gain.
The Coral – Eclipse Race Past Winners
The Coral – Eclipse race has been around for 139 years and has seen some truly remarkable participants and winners. The horses who won the Coral – Eclipse race in the past 24 years since 2000 were the following:
| Year | Winner | Age | Jockey | Trainer | Owner |
| 2000 | Giant’s Causeway | 3 | George Duffield | Aidan O’Brien | Magnier / Tabor |
| 2001 | Medicean | 4 | Kieren Fallon | Sir Michael Stoute | Cheveley Park Stud |
| 2002 | Hawk Wing | 3 | Michael Kinane | Aidan O’Brien | Sue Magnier |
| 2003 | Falbrav | 5 | Darryll Holland | Luca Cumani | Rencati / Yoshida |
| 2004 | Refuse to Bend | 4 | Frankie Dettori | Saeed bin Suroor | Godolphin |
| 2005 | Oratorio | 3 | Kieren Fallon | Aidan O’Brien | Magnier / Tabor |
| 2006 | David Junior | 4 | Jamie Spencer | Brian Meehan | Roldvale Ltd |
| 2007 | Notnowcato | 5 | Ryan Moore | Sir Michael Stoute | A. & D. de Rothschild |
| 2008 | Mount Nelson | 4 | Johnny Murtagh | Aidan O’Brien | Smith / Magnier / Tabor |
| 2009 | Sea the Stars | 3 | Michael Kinane | John Oxx | Christopher Tsui |
| 2010 | Twice Over | 5 | Tom Queally | Henry Cecil | Khalid Abdullah |
| 2011 | So You Think | 5 | Seamie Heffernan | Aidan O’Brien | Derrick Smith et al. |
| 2012 | Nathaniel | 4 | William Buick | John Gosden | Lady Rothschild |
| 2013 | Al Kazeem | 5 | James Doyle | Roger Charlton | John Deer |
| 2014 | Mukhadram | 5 | Paul Hanagan | William Haggas | Hamdan Al Maktoum |
| 2015 | Golden Horn | 3 | Frankie Dettori | John Gosden | Anthony Oppenheimer |
| 2016 | Hawkbill | 3 | William Buick | Charlie Appleby | Godolphin |
| 2017 | Ulysses | 4 | Jim Crowley | Sir Michael Stoute | Flaxman Stables |
| 2018 | Roaring Lion | 3 | Oisin Murphy | John Gosden | Qatar Racing |
| 2019 | Enable | 5 | Frankie Dettori | John Gosden | Khalid Abdullah |
| 2020 | Ghaiyyath | 5 | William Buick | Charlie Appleby | Godolphin |
| 2021 | St Mark’s Basilica | 3 | Ryan Moore | Aidan O’Brien | Smith / Magnier / Tabor |
| 2022 | Vadeni | 3 | Christophe Soumillon | Jean-Claude Rouget | Aga Khan IV |
| 2023 | Paddington | 3 | Ryan Moore | Aidan O’Brien | Tabor / Smith / Magnier et al. |
| 2024 | City of Troy | 3 | Ryan Moore | Aidan O’Brien | Magnier /Tabor / Smith / |
The beginning of the 2024 season may not have been particularly inspiring for the last year’s Coral – Eclipse race winner City of Troy. After a stellar 2023 season, where the then two year old colt won all three races he participated in, including his maiden race at The Curragh, the hopes were high for him to show equally stunning results at the 2000 Guineas Stakes. Yet, in the last quarter of the race he faded and came only ninth of the eleven contenders.
But City of Troy, led by jockey Ryan Moore and trained by the renowned Aidan O’Brien, managed to turn the fate around. The now three year old colt won the Epsom Derby and one month later, the Coral – Eclipse race.
The French Al Riffa came second, while the Irish Ghostwriter finished third.
Coral – Eclipse Race Records
Interestingly, no horse so far has managed to win the Coral – Eclipse race more than twice. The last time this occurred was in 1996.
- Leading horse: Orme (1892, 1893), Buchan (1919, 1920), Polyphontes (1924, 1925), Mtoto (1987, 1988), Halling (1995, 1996), all with 2 wins
- Leading jockey: Lester Piggott with 7 wins (1951, 1955, 1957, 1961, 1966, 1969, 1977)
- Leading trainer: Aidan O’Brien with 8 wins (2000, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2021, 2023, 2024)
- Leading owner: Sue Magnier with 8 wins (2000, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2021, 2023, 2024)
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