Sandown 3.40
ELITE SERVICE - Sandown 3.40 - BET 365 Handicap Chase C1G3 - 3 miles 5 furlongs - Good / Good to Firm in Places - 16run
As the curtain comes down on the NH season the big betting race is The Bet365 Gold Cup, a race known to those of a certain generation as The Whitbread and one that boasts famous winners like Arkle, Mill House, Desert Orchid and Mr Frisk. There looks nothing of that calibre in this year’s renewal but, with 16 set to go to post, it is still a competitive race.
The weights are headed by CROSSPARK. This 11 year-old is a thoroughly likeable animal who has been very consistent this season. He has finished 2nd in 5 of his 6 seasonal runs, including 3 times at this venue, but gets absolutely no respite from the handicapper as a result and, with all due respect to the horse, the fact that he is top-weight here says much about the quality of the contest this year. He is a proven stayer and gets the services of Sean Bowen, who has won the race twice in the past, but, whilst he may run another solid race, he has had a hard season and it will not be a surprise to not see at least a couple in here better treated in the ratings.
The market is, currently, headed by PLAN OF ATTACK who makes the journey over from Ireland for the all-conquering Henry De Bromhead/Rachael Blackmore combination. The connections alone make it no surprise that he is so short in the market whilst the fact that he is an Irish horse in a UK handicap clearly adds to this given recent events. His form this season shows more letters against his name than numbers but he has been running in some very competitive handicaps such as The Kerry National, The Paddy Power Chase, The Troytown and, latterly, The Kim Muir at The Cheltenham Festival. He was travelling well into contention at Cheltenham last time before stumbling 3 fences out and, whilst that was still too far out to say for certain, he looked set to play a part in the finish at least. His mark has been left unchanged as a result and he sits just 1lb above his Irish rating here. He seems versatile in terms of ground and the blinkers, used for the first time at Cheltenham, are retained.
There is a former winner of this race lining up this year and that is THE YOUNG MASTER who took the honours in 2016 off a mark of 148. He runs off 6lbs lower here and it will be his 5th run in the race. He ran in the last renewal, in 2019, off this mark, and finished 2nd. He was aided by the 3lb claim of his jockey that day but he gets the benefit of a 5lb claimer this time so is, effectively, 2lbs lower. He has not been seen since last August, so his well-being has to be taken on trust, but he has run well after a break a few times in the past so that should not be seen as too big a negative. He is one of just a handful in the race with the proven stamina and he could run a big race at nice each-way odds.
THE YOUNG MASTER is one of two entries for trainer Neil Mulholland and the other is even more of a chasing veteran and that is the 13 year-old DOING FINE. He is another with a fine course record, having won twice (one subsequently declared a void race) and finished in the top 5 on the other 3 occasions. He won over course-and-distance in December when he got the better of CROSSPARK but does find himself 7lbs worse off with that rival here and comes here after running down the field in The Midlands National last month. That last win, however, was achieved in soft ground and connections have always been keen to stress that he needs a sound surface, which he now gets here, so perhaps the win could be upgraded. His usual jockey still finds herself on the injured list and, although James Best is a very capable jockey and I expect him to run well at big odds, he needs a career-best to win this which is a big ask at his age.
Paul Nicholls has won this race on 4 occasions in the past and he runs ENRILO here. He will be making just his 5th start over fences, having started his chasing career in October following wind surgery, and opened his account at the second time of asking at Exeter in November when winning over 3 miles. He disappointed somewhat next time, when stepped up in grade for the big novice chase at Kempton, on Boxing Day, but returned with a win at Newbury last time – again in novice company. The 3rd horse home that day has won twice easily enough since to frank the form, suggesting a 5lb rise here is not too harsh in his first attempt in open company. The longer trip is, obviously, a question mark against him but he is unexposed and victory for the 7 year-old would be very apt given his trainer will be crowned as champion once more on the same afternoon as his jockey here, Harry Skelton, is set to pick up his first title.
Another who ran in the Kauto Star Novice Chase on Boxing Day is GOLAN FORTUNE and he ran a creditable race before finishing 4th. He continued to run respectably in his next 2 outings but then was well held in The Midlands National last month. He was, unusually for him, well held up on that occasion (maybe with the extreme trip in mind?) and was never able to land a blow in what was a steadily-run race. Tom Scudamore has come in for the mount here and he is sure to give him a more prominent ride, which may suit better, and the cheekpieces are re-fitted. He has some good formlines this season, both over hurdles and fences, and, although a relative late-comer to fences, may be on a decent handicap mark.
Christian Williams runs two in the race and the first of them is CAP DU NORD. He’s run to a good level in a number of decent staying chases this season but has gone up 16lbs as a result. He ran well behind Royal Pagaille in December, when finishing 2nd, and then, possibly, improved on that when finishing 3rd in The Skybet Chase at the end of January. He didn’t seem to quite see out that trip, to my eyes, however, albeit in soft ground, whilst he jumped badly left at Kempton next time which isn’t a positive sign for the similarly right-handed circuit. His usual jockey, also, prefers his stable-mate so he does look the second string here.
The horse that jockey, Jack Tudor, prefers is KITTY’S LIGHT. Still young, aged just 5, this diminutive little horse has enjoyed a very good season over fences. He made his fencing debut just last August and, since then, has finished in the top 3 in all 6 of his runs (winning 4 of them). A feature of his races has been how strongly he is running on at the line and he needed every yard of the 3m 2f last time at Kelso to get on top. He, similarly, finished very strongly when placing 3rd in The Badger Beers Chase in November and, also, when fighting back to win at Warwick in September despite a slipping saddle. He has gone up 4lbs for the Kelso win but he is an improver, and this has been the plan since The Badger Beers and he will relish the ground.
The aforementioned Badger Beers Chase, run at Wincanton in November, could be a key form-line to this race as the first 3 home there all meet again here. The race was won by EL PRESENTE, for Kim Bailey, and he is another who has enjoyed a progressive season over fences since first re-appearing in July. In that time, he has run on 6 occasions, winning 4 times and placing 3rd on the other 2 outings. He has gone up 23lbs in the process with a combination of decent ground and wind surgery seemingly the key. He was aimed at this race immediately after his Wincanton win and, as a horse who has raced almost exclusively at right-handed tracks, conditions look ideal here. Prominently-ridden runners, such as him, do tend to go well at Sandown but this is a marked step up in trip and that move into the unknown, off a 5lb higher mark than at Wincanton, could leave him vulnerable here. He looked in need of the outing when returning at Ludlow last month and should strip fitter here for a trainer who won back-to-back renewals of this race in the early 1990’s. He is, reportedly, the Jockey, David Bass's, favourite horse in the Bailey yard and rides once more here.
The horse who finished 2nd in November was POTTERMAN who lines up here for Alan King. This 8 year-old has a solid record over fences, winning 4 and placing in 5 of his 12 career starts to date but he does have a 147 day absence to overcome here, having not been seen since unseating in The Ladbroke Trophy in November, due to his planned prep at Taunton not going ahead, and he has not always run well after a break. He is a horse who is probably better going right-handed and enjoys decent ground, so gets both of those factors in his favour here, but he does have the tendency to hit the odd fence and that is not a good trait at this track. He is much better off at the weights with KITTY’S LIGHT than for the Wincanton race, despite finishing ahead of him, and, also, has a favourable swing with EL PRESENTE so, purely on that basis, he deserves to be in the mix here.
Another horse whose form ties in with EL PRESENTE is the Emma Lavelle-trained IRISH PROPHECY. Still lightly raced as a chaser, this 8 year-old finished 2nd to Kim Bailey’s charge at Exeter in October and only has 1 length to find, albeit that he is now 2lbs worse off when taking into account the jockey’s claim at Exeter. He won next time out, at Taunton, and his trainer duly mentioned this race as the season’s target straight after the race. Spared the deep winter ground, he returned with a spin over hurdles last month at March as a prep for this contest. Boasting a bumper win over Champ, he was touted as a potential star by his trainer in his early days but has only really started to fulfil any of that potential since switching to fences. He has to prove he stays the trip but will love the ground, his trainer is in good form and, the fact that he is almost twice the price of others with similar profiles, he is of each-way interest here.
When EL PRESENTE returned at Ludlow last month it was in a race won by CHECKITOUT who re-opposes here for Nigel Twiston-Davies. Another who only made his fencing debut this season, he has improved no end since the turn of year winning at Southwell as well as the race at Ludlow. His last run, however, saw him finish only 8th at Haydock after a far from perfect round of jumping and he will need to step up again here. It was reported that he may found the race coming too quickly after his Ludlow exertions and, if that is the case, he may shape much better here. He could be another with plenty of progression still to come but jumping remains the worry for now at a testing venue like this.
LARRY won on this card two years ago, when taking the novice chase over 2m 4f but has had very little racing since. He returned from 16 months off the track earlier this month when pulling up over an inadequate 2 miles at Chepstow having lost a shoe. That run will have blown away some cobwebs and this trip, although further than he has gone before, should be more suitable than that. The trainer is one I find hard to fathom but he has a good record at Sandown and knows how to target races. The 8 year-old has actually won on both visits to the track and they remain his only chase wins from 9 starts so the track is certainly a positive and it would be no surprise to see him out-run his odds.
The other 3 entries should all have no issue with the trip and all have winning form over the distance or even further. SMOOTH STEPPER won last time out at Carlisle, over 3 miles, but has previously won over this distance at Haydock when swooping late to take The Grand National Trial last February. Those were both in testing conditions, however, and he has never won over fences on ground any better than soft. It would not be a surprise if he were to be withdrawn once connections have had chance to look at conditions.
BOB MAHLER, on the other hand, should welcome the sounder surface here as, whilst he is quite versatile ground-wise, his better performances have come on decent ground. He is a horse I have tipped a couple of times already this season, firstly when he finished 3rd in his attempt to repeat last season’s win in The Edinburgh National and then when he was brought down by the fall of PLAN OF ATTACK in The Kim Muir. As with the faller, it was still too far out to say he would have featured at the business end of the race but he was just moving into contention from off the pace at the time and he had finished 3rd in the same race a year earlier when 3 lengths ahead of PLAN OF ATTACK and he is now 6lbs better off. He finished 4th on his latest start but that, possibly, came a bit soon after his Cheltenham exertions and he suffered a cut to his leg so there may be reasons to ignore that run. He has, however, been dropped a further 3lbs as a result and, sitting 3lbs below his last winning mark, looks well-handicapped.
At the bottom of the card, receiving at least 8lbs from the rest of the field is SUPREME ESCAPE. He has to run from 3lbs out of the handicap but he did prove his stamina with a win last time out, over 3m 6f, at Chepstow. This is a big step up in class but that run was a career-best effort and he remains unexposed over staying trips. The feather weight is, obviously, a help as is the fact that the talented Tom O’Brien is in the saddle and, whilst he has done much of his racing on soft or heavy ground, his record in conditions away from that under rules shows 2 wins from 2 starts. He has been the subject of quite a price plunge on Friday evening.
This doesn’t look the strongest of renewals but there are plenty for whom a good case could be made. The fact that Rachael Blackmore was reportedly so keen to come over to ride PLAN OF ATTACK allied to the form of the trainer and Irish horses in general in UK handicaps means that his price is probably shorter than it should be based on form alone, for all that he looks well treated, but some would say it is foolish to oppose an Irish horse in such circumstances. However, due to the price, that’s what I intend to do. ENRILO is another who, currently, looks too short in the betting, for all that he has the champion trainer and champion jockey in tandem and has shown promise.
The presence of those two horses at the head of the market, allied to the market move for SUPREME ESCAPE, means we are getting a better price than I had anticipated for my first pick and that is KITTY’S LIGHT. It is extremely rare for a 5 year-old to run in a race like this, and the trends boys would not go near this one, but, although he is flat bred, he looks upwardly mobile and has taken to fences extremely well since his chase debut in August plus he has looked to be crying out for a trip like this the way he has been finishing off his races. This has been the plan since The Badger Beers and, after being given a break following that race, he has been brought slowly to the boil by his trainer since January with a couple of spins in all-weather bumpers, a run over hurdles and, then, his win at Kelso last month. He will relish the sound surface and, although he can find himself a bit far back early in races, he should also relish the uphill climb to the line and I hope that he will be finishing up the hill better than anything else.
Another clearly targeted at the race and now, also, an each-way price is EL PRESENTE. He loves going right-handed and relishes good ground. He has to prove he gets this trip but he showed staying power and some fight when getting on top at Wincanton in The Badger Beers and he should be spot on for this after his prep run at Ludlow.
For a third dart at the race, I was torn between several here. GOLAN FORTUNE was quite tempting based on some of his form, particularly going right-handed where he has chalked up 4 of his 5 career wins, and, on the form of The Kauto Star Novice Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day, he represents much better value than ENRILO, whilst IRISH PROPHECY, who showed improved form for the fitting of cheekpieces in the autumn, has been campaigned with this race in mind this season and could run a good race if seeing out the trip He is always kept away from soft ground and gets ideal underfoot conditions here. He would be first reserve in the event of one of the others not running.
In the end, my old favourite BOB MAHLER, with proven stamina on his side, gets a speculative vote and he could run into one of the 5 places at a nice price to finish off what has been a rather ‘unlucky’ season in a satisfying manner. His form ties in with the favourite but he is a much bigger price and is good each-way value.
TIP: KITTY’S LIGHT. Trackers: EL PRESENTE, BOB MAHLER
Reserve: 6 Irish Prophecy @ 14/1