Maycocks Bay much the best in bet365 Eclipse Stakes (G2)
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TORONTO, May 30, 2026 – Godolphin homebred Maycocks Bay delivered a dominant performance to record his first stakes victory in the $175,000 bet365 Eclipse Stakes (G2) on Saturday afternoon at Woodbine.
Making his third appearance at the graded stakes level, the 5-year-old son of Speightstown out of the Medaglia d’Oro mare Hallie Belle entered the Eclipse having last visited the winner’s circle on Dec. 7, 2024, at Fair Grounds.
His first race at Woodbine and first start on an all-weather surface proved to be his most impressive yet.
With Sofia Vives aboard, Maycocks Bay seized command before the first turn in the 1 1/16-mile main-track event for 4-year-olds and up, quickly opening a substantial advantage over his nearest pursuer, Stanley House, and the rest of the field.
Ahead by five lengths after an opening quarter in :23.69, the margin grew to nine lengths through a half in :47.08. Stanley House tracked in second, followed by Church and State, Runaway Again, Jokestar, Swift Delivery and Tosen Wish (IRE).
Trained by Michael Stidham, Maycocks Bay showed no sign of fatigue heading into the turn, ahead by nearly 12 lengths and still running determinedly in early stretch.
In front by 5 ½ lengths at the stretch call, the gelding cruised home to win by two lengths. Stanley House finished second, a neck ahead of the supplemented Runaway Again. Swift Delivery was fourth. The final time was 1:43.05.
“I heard that he's a very eager horse, he likes to be forward,” said Vives. “He's quick on his own. If you grab him, it’s like pulling against the wall, so I just had to find a happy rhythm.
“In the first turn on this surface, he was just floating, so I figured he was going to open up a little bit. But when we turned for home, we had plenty of horse to keep pulling away.”
Parker Hendricks, assistant trainer to Stidham, felt confident in the horse’s chances running on the Woodbine all-weather track.
‘We're fortunate enough, this horse has been based down at Fair Hill Training Center for the last six or eight weeks, and he has galloped on it and worked on it, and he had a really nice breeze over the surface about two weeks ago, his second to last work, so we were pretty confident he would handle the surface."
Maycocks Bay arrived at the Eclipse off a third-place finish in a 1 1/16-mile turf race at Keeneland on Apr. 26. Last year, he finished fourth in the Louisiana Stakes (G3) and third in the Mineshaft Stakes (G3).
His third graded stakes appearance proved to be the charm.
“He's a very exuberant horse,” noted Hendriks. “I actually ride him myself. He is very fast, so he doesn't really feel like he's going that fast.”
Bred in Kentucky, Maycocks Bay broke his maiden in his second career start as the even-money favourite in a 6 ½-furlong race over the dirt at Parx on Sept. 23, 2023.
He paid $4.10 for today’s win.
Godolphin also won the $150,000 Belle Mahone Stakes (G3) on Saturday at Woodbine with homebred Deloraine.
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Chris Lomon, Woodbine
Chris Lomon