Weekend Horse Racing: O’Brien Chasing Record-Breaking Seventh Eclipse

July’s packed schedule of top-class horse racing action continues apace on Saturday, with big meetings taking place on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

The Eclipse Stakes is the highlight of an excellent card at Sandown Park and will see a small but select field of four runners line-up at the Esher racetrack.

Belmont Park takes centre stage later in the day, with the Belmont Oaks and Belmont Derby headlining a bumper 12-race card.

Read on as we preview each of the races and identify three horses we believe are well worth keeping an eye on this weekend.

Paddington will bid to give top Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien a record-breaking seventh success in the prestigious Eclipse Stakes at Sandown on Saturday.

The horse has shown massive improvement this season, rattling off four consecutive wins including the Irish 2000 Guineas and the St James’s Palace Stakes.

The extra two furlongs should not be a problem for Paddington and the 7lbs he receives from main rival Emily Upjohn will come in extremely handy.

Paddington is a top-priced 6/5 on the best horse racing betting sites and he is fancied to help O’Brien establish another notable career landmark.

Belmont Park’s excellent 12 race card will attract plenty of interest on new betting sites, particularly with two Grade 1 events in the mix.

Trainer Chad Brown is double-handed in the Belmont Oaks, with talented fillies Aspray and Prerequisite both capable of running into a place at each-way prices.

Aspray is undefeated in three starts and the booking of jockey Flavien Prat suggests the stable are expecting her to run a big race.

Prerequisite also has an excellent chance and could be tough to pass under Irad Ortiz Jr if the combination are allowed to establish a soft lead.

Epsom Derby fifth The Foxes is on a recovery mission this weekend in what promises to be a competitive renewal of the Belmont Derby.

The Andrew Balding-trained horse recovered from a bad start at Epsom to run a fine race, although it was clear the 12-furlong trip was beyond his scope.

Dropping back to 10 furlongs should suit The Foxes down to the ground and he will likely be a popular pick on UK betting apps on Saturday.

Odds of around 7/2 would be extremely tempting about a horse that may well possess too much class for the home contingent.