O'Brien on weather watch for The Gurkha

The Gurkha heads a strong field for the Group One Coral-Eclipse at Sandown on Saturday.

Aidan O'Brien's colt trounced his opponents in the French 2000 Guineas before finding Galileo Gold too strong in the St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot.

O'Brien has trained five previous winners of the 10-furlong contest, with Giant's Causeway (2000), Hawk Wing (2002) and most recently So You Think (2011) among those on the roll of honour for the Ballydoyle maestro.

The Sandown spectacular traditionally provides the Classic generation with their first opportunity to take on the older brigade and O'Brien is hoping that his charge is up to the task.

He said: "He came out of Ascot very well, he looks like a horse that could go up to a mile and a quarter and have no problem coming back to a mile again.

"Hopefully the deluge won't come as we wouldn't run him on heavy ground - hopefully that won't happen. You're never sure (how they'll run against the older horses) but we've always liked him."

Clive Cox believes his Royal Ascot hero My Dream Boat has plenty going for him.

The former jump jockey has never made any secret of the regard in which he holds his progressive colt and having signed off last season with successive wins in France, he picked up where he left off with a comeback victory in April's Gordon Richards Stakes over the Eclipse course and distance.

He disappointed on his latest cross-Channel raid for the Prix d'Ispahan, but proved his top-level talent with a tremendous victory in the Prince of Wales's Stakes and Cox is anticipating another bold show in this weekend's feature event.

"We've won a Group One, we're heading to Sandown as a Group One winner and there's no better feeling, whether he gets due credit or not doesn't bother me," said the trainer.

"We're quite pleased there's going to be plenty of pace in the race because it's pretty obvious that suits us best with the way he finishes off his races.

"On the face of it everything is great, he's fresh and well and we're looking forward to it."

Time Test gets the chance to prove himself the top-class performer he has long promised to be.

Roger Charlton's charge has missed Group One engagements at the Curragh and Ascot this season on account of testing conditions, but connections are hopeful the impressive Brigadier Gerard Stakes winner will handle the ease in the ground.

Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager to owner Khalid Abdullah, told At The Races: "I hope we'll give him (The Gurkha) a race. It will be interesting to see how it works out.

"We were pretty pleased with Time Test's comeback in every way, especially the way he travelled and the way he put it to bed.

"He's got to put his mark on the game now. This is a nice opportunity, definitely.

"We're pretty confident a mile and a quarter is around his optimum (distance).

"He's pretty versatile. I don't think he wants a flat-out gallop or a crawl, we just want a nice sensible pace.

"There are some really interesting horses in there and we should take them all and respect them."

The Charlie Appleby-trained Hawkbill won his fifth consecutive race when landing the Tercentenary Stakes last month and connections have opted to supplement him in a bid for Group One glory.

"He has come out of Ascot very well. We just felt that while the conditions are like they are, he deserved to have a go," said Appleby.

"I don't think there will be a lack of pace but he showed when he won at Newmarket, where he pretty much made the running, that he can be ridden very forward.

"At Sandown you have got to be up near the pace as not many come from behind and he has got good tactical pace.

"He had a quiet week after Ascot and has since been doing routine work. He had a swing on Saturday and we were very pleased with that.

"It was after that we regrouped and talked to John Ferguson and Sheikh Mohammed and decided to take a look at the Eclipse.

"We felt he was good enough to run in the French Derby. He could have gone there and then headed straight to the Eclipse but we have just gone a different route.

"Most importantly he is giving us the right signs and seems to be improving with each run."

Western Hymn won both the Gordon Richards and the Brigadier Gerard Stakes over this course and distance last season and was third to esteemed former stablemate Golden Horn in the Eclipse.

The five-year-old has continued in similarly consistent form this season without success, most recently finishing third behind My Dream Boat at Ascot.

Western Hymn's rider, Frankie Dettori, said: "He (The Gurkha) is getting 11lb from the older horses and I think that's quite a big bridge. He's got Classic form and he's the one we all have to beat.

"The good thing about Western Hymn is he loves Sandown, he's never out of the first three and tries his best.

"He's sure to run his race and put his best foot forward."

O'Brien's Bravery and the Charlton-trained Countermeasure, both of whom are likely to be employed as pacemakers for their stable companions, complete the seven-strong field.