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- Jan Brueghel eyes redemption at Coronation Cup after first career defeat
Jan Brueghel eyes redemption at Coronation Cup after first career defeat
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© Healy Racing Photos
The Ballydoyle assault on Epsom will be in full flow once more in June and Jan Brueghel is likely to have a crack at the Coronation Cup as he aims to return to winning ways after his first career defeat at the Curragh last time.
The son of Galileo was no match for the Joseph O'Brien-trained Galen last time out in the Alleged Stakes but is primed for his next target at Epsom, as Aidan O'Brien readies a big team for one of England's biggest Flat meetings.
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A stellar unbeaten three-year-old campaign
Jan Brueghel has a very classy pedigree. He is a brother to five winners including Sovereign who was a surprise winner of the Irish Derby in 2019, Dawn Rising who won a Group 3 and is a classy horse over hurdles, and Cliffs Of Dooneen who was also a decent dual-purpose performer.
Sent off at odds of 7/2, he got his career off to the best possible start when winning a 1m2f Curragh maiden by eight lengths last May before winning a Group 3 over the same course and distance a month later.
Jan Brueghel was starting to build a big reputation and was sent off the 4/5 favourite for his next assignment in the 1m4f Group 3 Gordon Stakes at Goodwood, where he saw off a very classy horse in Bellum Justum by a neck.
The market couldn't split him and stablemate Illinois for the Group 1 St Leger Stakes at Doncaster in September, with them both going off as 11/4 joint-favourites, and the market got it spot on. Jan Brueghel beat his stablemate by a neck in a thriller.
What can we expect of Jan Brueghel in 2025?
© Healy Racing Photos
Many of the Ballydoyle runners needed their seasonal reappearance run to chisel off the rust. That was evident with Lake Victoria, who was nowhere near her best in the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket, before blowing the field apart in the Irish equivalent.
It could be a similar story this year for Jan Brueghel, who was nowhere near his best on his return. It wasn't a bad run at all when runner-up behind Galen in the Group 3 Alleged Stakes at the Curragh, but he was certainly nowhere near his best.
Now with the cobwebs blown away, next up is the Coronation Cup and Jan Brueghel should be right back to his best. He's currently trading at around 5/1 with the majority of bookmakers out there, so he could be a clever each-way proposition.
Francis-Henri Graffard's Calandagan is the worthy odds-on favourite for the contest in the ante-post betting. A runaway winner of the Group 2 King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot last year and second in three Group 1s since, he could be tough to crack.
Nonetheless, he hasn't won a Group 1 yet, whereas Jan Brueghel has, so there is a good chance the Ballydoyle runner is underestimated in the betting.
