Dubai: Dubai World Cup (G1) runner-up Mukhadram is on a mission. There is a significant score he hopes to settle when he runs in Saturday’s Coral-Eclipse Stakes, Sandown Park’s Group One highlight of the season and the centrepiece of its two-day fixture.

Twelve months ago, the son of Shamardal was denied victory in the 2,000m contest after being badly hampered by the winner Al Kazeem in the final half furlong.

The stewards took no action and he was forced to settle for third, despite having looked like being the winner.

Since then, Mukhadram has had four starts, winning at the next time of asking at York and giving a good account of himself in top races such as the Champion Stakes (G1) at Ascot in October, the Dubai World Cup at Meydan in March and the Prince of Wales’s Stakes (G1) at Royal Ascot two weeks ago,

Tough and consistent, the William Haggas-trained five-year-old takes on some heavyweight opponents as he bids to set his Eclipse record straight by winning the £435,000 (Dh2.74 million) contest and giving owner Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance, a third success in the race after Nashwan in 1989 and Elmaamul in 1990.

Haggas is confident that Sandown’s stiff hill and quick ground should be to Mukhadram’s liking provided that he runs his customary forward race.

Mukadram’s rivals include The Fugue, John Gosden’s brilliant mare, who is a four-time Group 1 winner; Night Of Thunder, one of the top three-year-old colts in Britain, who won the 2,000 Guineas; Epsom Derby runner-up Kingston Hill; and ex-American Grade 1 scorer Verrazano, who is currently trained in Ireland by Aidan O’Brien.

All connections are eyeing the weather forecast for Sandown, where course officials have been performing judicious watering in some places.

“It is good, flat racing ground in the main, with the hot dry weather we’ve had introducing good to firm places,” clerk of the course Andrew Cooper told At The Races.

“We just might keep on top of the quick bits to keep it in the good, good to firm places territory for today.”