De Sousa lands ride on Eminent for Eclipse

CONNECTIONS of Eminent, a gallant fourth in the Investec Derby, have booked Silvestre de Sousa to ride their star colt in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown on Saturday. The son of Frankel, one of 16 declared at the five-day stage for the prestigious Group One, has been ridden on all four starts by Jim Crowley, including at Epsom last month when he narrowly missed out on the places behind the now-retired Wings Of Eagles. However, the champion jockey’s retainer with Sheik Hamdan Al Maktoum means Crowley is unable to commit to Eminent for the long term, leaving trainer Martyn Meade with no option but to find a replacement. He said: ‘We didn’t know for sure whether Jim would be available and we wanted to have some certainty. I discussed it with the owner and we decided a change might be the way to go. ‘Hopefully Silvestre will come and have a sit on the horse this week.’ Understandably, De Sousa was delighted to land the ride. ‘I’ve been waiting a while to get on a good one like him,’ he said. ‘He’s a top horse who ran really well in the Derby and he deserves his place in the Eclipse. It’s a good chance to get a Group One on the board.’