Tanlic, do you realise you're suggesting a horse wasn't trying in a big race??
I don't know about you, but I'm certainly not allowed to suggest that...
No I am not suggesting he wasn't trying. You can't just flick a switch and tell a horse today's the day. What I was saying is Hillstar may not have been 100% and he may well put up a much better performance next time he runs.
As far as the Eclipse it's complicated
My worry with the Fugue is she has been turned over several times in races where really she should have won.
She let punters down twice in Hong Kong, lost in the Breeders and the Yorkshire Oaks when she was expected to win and this might be her toughest challenge to date.
The 2000 Guineas form is rock solid and the hope is Night of Thunder is better at this trip than a mile but there's no getting away from the fact he wasn't just beaten by Kingman he was slaughtered.
Of the two I prefer The Fugue but there are plenty boil overs in racing and this race might end up being yet another one.
Toranado won this last year ad on his return won the Queen Ann from Verrazano but the horse that caught my eye in that race was Andrew Balding's Tullius who was gaining on the leaders all the way to the line.
He looked like he was crying out for 10f that day a distance he has tackled only once in his life in 2011.
He's got a fair bit to find with the likes of the Fugue but he definitely shaped like the extra distance may bring e few lengths improvement which would just be about enough to win this.
I'll be having a bet
Tullius at around 50-60 plus a place bet on the place market with Betfair and
a saver on The Fugue