SANDOWN chiefs have decided to start Saturday’s huge Coral-Eclipse card early to avoid a clash with the England game.
The seven-race card has been brought forward by half an hour and will now kick off at 1.15, with the last race scheduled 13 minutes before the Three Lions take on Switzerland in Dusseldorf at 5pm.
With 90 seconds of injury time remaining, it looked like Gareth Southgate’s men were heading for an embarrassing last-16 exit at the hands of Slovakia.
But a dramatic late goal from Jude Bellingham and an extra-time header from Harry Kane spared the nation’s blushes.
In previous years, the last race was run beyond 5pm, but the track see no sense in letting the action run over into the Euros quarter final.
The Coral-Eclipse itself will be run at 3.35, and the course will keep their doors open after racing to show the match on the big screen and TVs around the track.
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Clerk of the course Andrew Cooper said: “This is football tournament season, late June and early July, and I remember we showed the England-Sweden game at the World Cup a few years back.
“We’ve done it before and I had it cleared by the BHA and everyone at Coral a few weeks ago, just as a contingency in case England did get there.
“Even if Bellingham hadn’t saved the day in the last minute we’d have still been starting at 1.15.
“It’s not a dramatic shifting of the race order, but it just makes sense to bite the bullet and rejig things a little so we are finishing just before the start of the game.
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“The match will be on around the course and some bars and food outlets will stay open during the game.
“It looks like we are going to get a nice, healthy crowd on Saturday, so hopefully quite a few will stay to watch the game and we can get a nice atmosphere.”
Ground conditions at Sandown look set to be perfect on Saturday for the £750,000 feature, for which Derby hero City Of Troy heads the betting with the sponsors at 8-15.
White Birch, who downed Auguste Rodin in the Tattersalls Gold Cup last time, is next best at 7-2 ahead of Luxembourg (8-1).
Cooper added: “There is a little bit of uncertainty around the forecast for later in the week, and maybe a little bit of drizzly rain on Wednesday.
“But until we get a little more certainty around the forecast on Friday, where there is a chance of a bit of rain, you’d say we’d be starting on ground on the fast side of Good.”
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