Johnston To Make Late Eclipse Call

Mark Johnston will make a late decision over the participation of Permian (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) in Saturday's G1 Coral Eclipse at Sandown. The 3-year-old has so far shown no signs of fatigue following a busy campaign that has seen Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum's colt run six times since April. Permian has only disappointed once when finishing tenth in the G1 Investec Epsom Derby and bounced back from that to win the G2 King Edward VII S. at Royal Ascot. Regards plans for Saturday Johnston said, “We've left him in and I wouldn't rule it out. The horse is well. It does come quickly after Royal Ascot but we said that last time, after the Derby.” Barney Roy (GB) (Excelebration {Ire}) will vie for favouritism for the race but his participation is not set in stone with the following day's G1 Prix Jean Prat at Chantilly also a possibility. His trainer Richard Hannon however is keener on Sandown and commented, “I'm favouring the Eclipse, though I can't say I'm very confident he'll get a mile and a quarter, but there's every chance. He has always run to the line over a mile and is out of a Galileo mare.” Aidan O'Brien will be seeking a sixth victory in the race and of his chief hope, Epsom Derby runner up Cliffs Of Moher (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) he commented, “We're very happy so far. This will be a big week for him, but so far, so good. We've been very happy with him since Epsom.”