Wednesday Night Racing at Sandown Park

Sandown host an evening card, and although it struggles to meet the standard it sets with The Brigadier Gerard Stakes evening, with stars the calibre of Carlton House, Sir Prancelot, Opinion Poll under the bright lights, there is still a strong card in comparison to the equine class on offer this afternoon. Richard Hannon and Richard have two strong runners in the form of Dominate and Law Enforcement, and the stable are in good nick, having doubles at Newbury on Friday and Saturday, but they are both likely to be painfully short in the market and I’d rather be a layer than a backer.

I will gladly take on the favourite in the first race. Dominate is a well bred and well related colt, who ran well first time out at Windsor, but I would be sceptical backing him at odds on. Instead RED EXPLORER makes plenty appeal, especially on pedigree. A son of Henrythenavigator and from a dam who has produced a multiple winner, ran a solid second on debut, staying on well over five furlongs, and it is interesting that he is kept at the minimum distance. He was well supported in the market that day, going off the clear 11/4 favourite, he must be doing something right at home. The third that day has since come out at won at Beverley, and at the prices, it has to be Red Explorer.

Picture Dealer is another short priced favourite, primarily based on the absolute shocker Tom Queally gave him at Doncaster last time out on his handicap beau. Blood is thicker than water, and it helps when your son is the best jockey in the game, and Ryan is in the saddle this time round. Given the manner of how he stayed on at Town Moor, (how apt), I would be dropping him down in trip. He ran on strongly over six furlongs on good ground, and given he won his maiden over six furlongs on soft, the son of Royal Applause, will be fine on the ground, but will seemingly want further, anything up to a mile. I find it very perplexing, and a horse I tipped up last time out seeking the hatrick makes much more appeal in KHUBALA. The stable are very shrewd and are having a fruitful time of things at Ed Dunlop’s yard; enjoying a 14% strike rate, and a rare profitable season to £1 stake on the turf. He has only sent two horses to Sandown all season, so that again is another plus, and the manner of his last two victories have been rather impressive. Up 7lb for his last win, and 12lb for the two, may perhaps slow him down, but I have a lot of faith that the Acclamation colt is still going great guns and on the road to securing some black type.

Haatefina and Law Enforcement are the market principles in the 19:00 maiden stakes, and both have strong claims. Haatefina ran on strongly behind leading 1000 Guineas fancy Maureen who subsequently went close in the Cherry Hinton Stakes at Newmarket. Law Enforcement is a well bred and well respected colt for the Hannon and Hughes team who have a good record in this race, winning it last year with Mister Music. The Henry Candy stable aren’t exactly firing at the minute otherwise Beroni would be somewhat of interest. That leaves a rather lacklustre field and it could be worth taking a chance on DANCE WITH DRAGONS for the Paul Cole team. They are yet to have a two year old winner this season, but started off in dire form and are generally coming round. A couple of winners in the last week or so and they are generally operating on a 40% place strike rate, when you consider their runners are overpriced, they could be a nice stable to stay on the side of. The colt’s fourth first time out at Windsor was a respectable effort and he is entitled to come on for that run.


DEBATING SOCIETY runs for the Sir Michael Stoute stable, and after a particularly below par start to the season, they seem to have found some form, just in the nick of time before with the King George on Saturday. He has had only nine runners in the last week, but an amazing five winners, a staggering 55% strike rate. Debating Society has been running with credit, and just not seemingly getting the breaks. The Invincible Spirit colt ran a solid fourth at Windsor, only losing by three lengths. That was his first foray into handicapping, and out of five rivals, three have come out and won since. He followed that with a good second at Kempton, and now tried over a mile and a quarter on soft turf, would look to eek out even further improvement still.

CELLIST ran the most peculiar of races last time out on the all weather when shedding her maiden tag. It really has to be seen to be believed, check out the free video replays AtTheRaces have on their website. The gelded son of Halling was off the bit with about half a mile to go, and he was really struggling. But then when the penny dropped, the penny dropped and he absolutely flew. He is stepped up from a mile and a half to a mile and three quarters and although there are strong contenders from the Cumani, Cecil and Osbourne stables, I think he has a lot more to come from this stayer in the making.

5.55 Sandown – Red Explorer
6.30 Sandown – Khubala
7.00 Sandown – Dance with Dragons
8.05 Sandown – Debating Society (Nap)
8.35 Sandown – Cellist

The Yorkshireman – Jack Milner

Follow me on Twitter - @JJMSports

Weekend Racing February 4th - Ffos Los, Sandown and Wetherby

A disappointing week for racing with several fixtures succumbing to the weather, but solace can be found in the fact that the whole-scale havoc of last winter has been avoided and we have got off relatively lightly this season overall.

Wetherby has a mixed bag of a card on Saturday. The main attraction is the Grade 2 Novice Chase, which has attracted a very impressive field. There are currently horses entered from the Nicholls, Henderson, Venetia and Ian Williams stables but the two stand out entries are those from the Scottish based Lucinda Russell yard. She has entered Blenheim Brook and BOLD SIR BRIAN, and the latter looks the more promising. Stable jockey Peter Buchanan is booked for Bold Sir Brian and he appears to have the edge over his stable-mate . His win at Hexham was on heavy ground, and a winning margin of 17 lengths highlights his love of the mud, conditions the gelding should get on Saturday in the north.

Ffos Las has its Welsh Champion Hurdle card, and Oscar Whisky looks a strong candidate to successfully retain the title he won last year. Unfortunately he’s likely to be a skinny price and cannot be selected as a consequence. The other attraction is the West Wales National, with some hardened staying chasers turning out, including REY NACARADO for the Charlie Longsdon yard. He travelled fantastically to win a 3 miles 2 furlongs handicap on soft last time out, when successfully tipped up here by The Yorkshireman, and with improvement still to come, he can repeat the feat in Wales. Upped in trip and forecast heavy ground should suit this consistent type, who looks sure to give his usual resilient account of himself.

FIX THE RIB could go off a decent price in the two mile handicap chase. He is a horse gradually coming back to the form that he showed before a two year absence. He finished third to Master Minded in the Game Spirit Chase at Newbury in 2010, off a mark of 156. Now down to 134, he could be very well handicapped. A line can be put through both his comeback run and his Tingle Creek effort. He looked a little better when finishing a game 7th at Ascot and further improvement came over two and a half miles at Kempton, against what seemed like a good field. The drop back down to two miles should bring the best out of him, and the drying ground is likely to bring even more improvement, although soft wouldn’t completely kill his chances either.

The highlight of the card at Sandown is the Betfred Heroes handicap hurdle and I think SWINCOMBE FLAME is the best bet of the weekend. The Nick Williams star mare has been raised 6lb by the handicapper for her win in the Lanzarote Hurdle at Kempton. She smashed the last hurdle, and needed reminding to get up to the line, but stayed on well and got up, albeit at the expense of a whip ban for jockey Will Kennedy. This trip is over an extra furlong, and should bring further improvement against exposed sorts. She is still only having her fifth run of the season and looks very progressive. The only serious danger looks to be the well handicapped Thehillofuisneach.

The last race to be shown on Channel 4 is an interesting renewal and Nicky Henderson has two entered, and both have solid chances. I’d quite happily row in with his MASTER OF THE HALL or BURTON PORT, whichever Henderson selects of the two. Burton Port has always been one of my favourite horses, after I backed him ante post at big prices in the RSA chase at Cheltenham 2010 where he finished a solid second to Weapons Amnesty. His second in last years Hennessy, sandwiched between Diamond Harry and Denman, is a strong form line and, if recovered from injury, he could be a massive threat to them all. Master of the Hall looked good when defeating Nacarat and subsequent winner Tamarinbleu at Aintree. He refused to race last time but there should be more to come from an eight year old with some very strong novice form.

2.00 Sandown – Fix the Rib
3.05 Sandown – Swincombe Flame (Nap)
3.40 Sandown – Master of the Hall/Burton Port
2.15 Wetherby – Bold Sir Brian
3.20 Ffos Las – Rey Nacarado

The Yorkshireman – Jack Milner @JJMSports

Midwwek Turfing Talk - July 13th 211 - Sandown Park and Catterick Bridge

This Wednesday (13^th July) there is a fantastic spread of racing to choose from, with cards spread across three countries, two codes and seven meetings. From this choice of over fourty races I have whittled things down to just three selections in the hope of providing our loyal followers with a nice profit to tee up their weekend punting plans.

Our first selection comes from Catterick in the heart of Yorkshire. The local trainers are usually those to keep an eye out for, especially when the money is down. Trainers such as Richard Fahey, Mark Johnston and David O’ Meara have experienced success in the last few years, however this year it has all been about the EASTERBY family, with both Mick and nephew Tim experiencing a fantastic year thus far. Tim, in particular, seems to have a really good bunch of two year olds.

He has a runner of note in the 2.50, a novice auction race, where his horse PIECE BY PIECE is likely to go off a hot favourite. Piece By Piece won a six furlong maiden at Ripon, which has worked out well, some of those behind coming out to win subsequently. He then ran second recently at Newcastle to a smart horse of Tom Tate’s, Parc De Launay, losing by a neck. His form looks solid enough and the step up to seven furlongs should prove a help rather than a hindrance.

The Henry Candy yard is flying at the minute, in particular when stable jockey Dane O’ Niell is on board. Out of the 44 rides he has had for his boss this year, he has had 11 winners and 13 further places. The team can have further success with BLESS YOU, a recent maiden winner who makes her debut in handicap company for the first time in the 6:50 at Sandown on Wednesday. The filly has been given a mark of 82, which means she will carry top weight, however she looks to have bags of improvement to come, and has improved with every run thus far. The maiden form looks strong, with half the field at least placed in their subsequent runs, and she looks the one to beat.

Further down the card at Sandown there looks to be another horse of interest in the Mark Tompkins trained BATTERY POWER, complete with eye-catching jockey booking Kieren Fallon. The Royal Applause filly is stepping up to 1m 6f for the first time, and looks like one to keep an eye on. Since winning her maiden with relative ease at Southwell back in November, she was stepped up to 10 furlongs on her reappearance, and finished fourth of six. She was entitled to that run, having been off for 200 days . The recent promise she showed when finishing second in a Classified Stakes race at Newmarket earmarks her as the potential value in a trappy handicap.

2.50 Catterick – Piece By Piece (Nap)

6.50 Sandown – Bless You

8.50 Sandown – Battery Power

The Yorkshireman – Jack Milner

Saturday 11th June - Calm before the storm at York, Chester and Sandown

It feels like the calm before the storm as we approach the week of mouth watering action that is Royal Ascot, but the quality racing keeps coming thick and fast, and even in a week where it is sandwiched between The Epsom meeting and Royal Ascot, racing on Saturday I still that of the utmost quality, with fine meetings at Newbury, York and Chester.

Andrew Balding has started the season in fantastic form and one of is leading handicap hopeful’s is OPERA GAL, who run’s in the 3:55 at Chester, which is a class two handicap. The filly has been nothing but progressive over the last two years, being the model of consistency. She has finished fourth and second in her two outings this year, and got backed off the boards at Doncaster last time out, and the ease that has come in the ground in the last few days should be in her favour to push her over the finishing line in first.

With stay with the Balding yard to move to York for the 3:15, another class two handicap, where it looks like DESERT LAW is one who is on the upgrade and has plenty more potential than his current handicap mark. He made his debut in handicap company two weeks ago, and looked for all the winner, before being narrowly held by Majestic Myles at Newmarket. He should come on greatly for the run, as was his first run for 225 days. As mentioned, the yard is in flying form, and stable jockey Jimmy Fortune is booked in the saddle.

THE CONFESSOR goes at Sandown for Henry Candy, and has a tremendous record when fresh. He has run twice when having a 85 day absence or more, and returns to seven furlongs, where he is two from three, with his only loss coming after running with only a seven day break, which clearly does not suit the horse. Henry usually has his horses fit and ready to go, which should mean he has every chance whilst running against potentially rust horses.

2.55 Sandown – The Confessor

3.15 York – Desert Law

3.55 Chester – Opera Gal