Hi all,
Inside today's main piece I'm looking at the best of Saturday's ITV action at Sandown and Chester.
Saturday brings another action-packed day on ITV, though it’s more about quantity than quality. At Sandown, the Group 3 Atalanta Stakes (2:25) and the Group 3 Solario Stakes (3:35) headline. Charlie Appleby, who usually dominates the Solario, is absent this year. However, this race often uncovers future stars, with past winners like Kingman and Masar going on to Group 1 success.
Meanwhile, Beverley’s Listed Bullet Sprint (2:05) and another race from the Yorkshire track will also be aired live. Chester feature race is the Listed Chester Stakes (3:15), among others, adding to the excitement.
The Curragh also offers a thrilling lineup, including two Group 3 races and the Paddy Power-sponsored Irish Cambridgeshire (4:35). While not on ITV, the Irish Cambridgeshire is the top handicap on Saturday, either side of the Irish Sea.
Sandown 3:35 – Sky Bet Solario Stakes (Group 3) – 7f
The Group 3 Sky Bet Solario Stakes at Sandown promises to be intriguing with promising prospects among the seven runners.
Royal Playwright: Trained by Andrew Balding, he made a striking debut at Salisbury last month. One to watch. I’m annoyed I missed the 5/1 that was available when I previewed the race on Wednesday’s column.
Field Of Gold: An expensive Kingman son, he built on his debut with an easy Newmarket win. Off for 50 days, but a nice prospect.
Matauri Bay: A 500,000gns yearling, he made a winning debut at Leicester. Strong contender.
Chester 3:15 – Virgin Bet Chester Stakes (Listed Race) (Class 1) – 1m 6½f
Absurde: Winner of last year’s Ebor Handicap and County Hurdle at Cheltenham, he’s the one to beat despite a recent Curragh disappointment.
Real Dream: An improving handicapper last year. He returned solidly in May but faltered at York last time. Wind surgery could see him bounce back.
Samui: A useful hurdler, progressing well on the flat. Ran well when runner-up at York last week. Could go close with first-time cheekpieces.
Shanroe: Last year’s winner, absent for 300 days. This race is tougher, but he can’t be dismissed given he goes well around here.
Saturday’s ‘Lay or Play’
One of my ‘cliff horses’ Lyndon B runs in the opening ITV race (1:50) at Sandown. If all the cards fall right, he wins but I have played against him today. Mind you I won’t be laying him either.
If you've been laying these recently, you’d have made a solid, consistent profit. There are three ‘lay or play’ qualifiers this Saturday.
Good luck with your Saturday bets.
John
Ok, so I’m not his greatest fan; However, Ryan Moore’s impersonation of Jamie Spencer on Wigmore Street, was nothing short of spectacular.
He is the greatest jockey riding at the moment.
I would not judge him by his lack of personality.
Great ride today and another 4 timer,like last Saturday.
I would not mention him in the same breath as Spencer
Also, how refreshing to see a young jockey so happy and excited to ride a winner that he clearly loves to pieces!
William Pyle rode an absolute peach to get The Bell Conductor up on the line at Chester (no, I didn’t back it) and he was clearly chuffed to bits in the post race interview and quite rightly deserves all and any plaudits..well done young man!!
A 4 timer yes, but 3 of them were very short and other jockeys could have steered them home easily enough.
And you can’t deny that WS and Fairy Godmother were very much in the Spencer style of riding.
(At least OM does it for a variety of trainers and horses).
RM is in a very privileged position with AO and without Coolmore, he would just be a good jockey and not on that pedestal that he sits on thanks to the media…imo of course.