A MASSIVE gamble is building on the world’s best horse – as bookies fear a punter onslaught at Sandown on Saturday.
John & Thady Gosden’s outstanding four-year-old Ombudsman has an official rating of 128.
Ombudsman was crowned best horse in the world after his awesome Royal Ascot win – and is being backed to repeat the feat in the Coral-Eclipse[/caption]
No other horse on the planet can match that.
And, worryingly for his rivals, Thady says the Godolphin-owned colt is getting even better.
Ombudsman left his rivals for dead with a devastating turn of foot in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot last month.
And Paddy Power report it being one-way traffic in the betting ahead of the £1million Coral-Eclipse.
Ombudsman is all set to run – renewing his partnership with William Buick despite his 2,000 Guineas winner Ruling Court being among the list of potential runners too.
Victory for Ombudsman, who Paddy think could go off odds-on having been pumped in from 13-8 to 11-8 to evens, would be a killer for bookies.
They enjoyed a stellar Royal Ascot with a number of fancied runners getting turned over, memorably thanks to big-price winners such as 33-1 Cercene and 25-1 Time For Sandals.
But punters will be baying for blood in the 1m2f Group 1 at the Surrey track.
Paddy’s Paul Binfield said: “Ombudsman has really been the only horse that anyone has wanted since we adjusted the market at the five-day stage, arguably because of doubts about some of his possible rivals actually turning up on the Esher slopes and it’s now very possible that he’ll go off a shade of odds-on on the actual day.”
Race sponsors Coral currently hold the biggest price at 6-4 but that has been clipped in too.
The firm’s David Stevens said: “Although we don’t yet know the final line-up for Saturday’s first ever £1m Coral-Eclipse, we do know it’s all systems go with Ombudsman.
“And following his impressive Royal Ascot victory, he’s the clear pick with punters at this stage.”
Thady, who trains alongside his legendary dad John, was confident in the colt’s ability speaking on Tuesday.
He said: “He has come out of Royal Ascot in very good order and only had one run beforehand this season at Sandown in the Brigadier Gerard when he was second to Almaqam.
“He hasn’t had a hard season or really a hard career so far so we thought why not go for this?
“The Prince Of Wales’s was a very tough race with a lot of Group One horses in there.
“He is still relatively inexperienced and that was his first run in a Group One.
“We always thought he had the potential to be a horse of the class he has turned out to be and we found that out on the day at Ascot.
“He had a few traffic problems at Ascot but luckily has that turn of foot that Night Of Thunder seems to give them and he picked up really well.
“He has plenty of speed – he’s always had it. He has improved with every start and got the mile and a quarter well last time.”
Coral-Eclipse odds via Coral
6-4 Ombudsman
9-2 Sosie
13-2 Camille Pissarro
8-1 Delacroix
9-1 Almaqam, Anmaat
11-1 Ruling Court
14-1 White Birch
20-1 Stanhope Gardens
33-1 Hotazhell
66-1 Expanded
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