2024 Musselburgh & Sandown Saturday tips – DS
2024 Musselburgh & Sandown Saturday Preview
It is going to be a busy weekend. The DRF is the main event over in Ireland and you can check out our preview for Saturday here. Dave Stevos’ 2024 Musselburgh & Sandown Saturday tips are below.
1.25 Sandown – Novices’ Handicap Hurdle (Class 3)
We’ll be racing on good to soft ground at Sandown on Saturday. These novice handicaps are always tricky affairs and with seven of the ten runners making their handicap debuts, this is no exception. Most of the runners have already displayed some sort of ability, the question is who’ll be there to try and win today.
The Henderson and Nicholls’ horses at the head of the market are obvious contenders. They’ll probably be looking for a hike in the weights to get into bigger races in the Spring and of those two, the fav Jingko Blue probably appeals more as he is proven at today’s trip of 20f.
Step Up In Trip
However, I don’t like backing handicap debutants so instead, I’ll take a punt on the step up in trip suiting the Robbie Llewellyn trained Titan Discovery. This 6yo son of Pether’s Moon showed plenty of potential on his first few outings under rules. He finished second in three of his first four runs before landing a handicap hurdle at Ascot last time off 104
He only had a head to spare over Toonagh Warrior but it was a more comfortable win than the winning distance suggests. It looked like he needed every millimetre of the 15.5f trip and on pedigree you would think that further would suit him too.
His dam won over 21f, his half brother Bingoo won over 20f and his full sister Lunar Discovery has placed in Listed company over 19f. Himself and the runner up pulled 6L clear of the rest at Ascot and the sixth, 14L behind, won a handicap off 108 on his next start. On that evidence, there could still be some juice in Titan Discovery’s mark of 111 and at 12/1, he is the e/w selection.
2024 Musselburgh & Sandown Saturday Tip: Titan Discovery e/w @ 12/1 (4 places Hills)
2.15 Musselburgh – Edinburgh National Handicap Chase (Class 2)
Unfortunately the 1.40 at Musselburgh and 2.00 Sandown are both small field handicaps so we’ll move straight onto this marathon. The trip is just short of four miles but thankfully, the good to soft ground should ensure it isn’t too much of a slog.
We have backed the top two in the betting before. Peaches and Cream is the 4/1 fav and he placed for us in a Troytown a couple of years ago. He is an out and out stayer, as he showed when winning over 31f at Punchestown and he’s only 4lb higher here with Ben Harvey’s claim.
Inis Oirr was on my radar last season and we backed him when he was last in a G2 at Haydock. He has taken well to chasing and he has shaped like this sort of trip would suit on more than one occasion this term. His owner loves having winners here and he’ll surely be trying his best for such a valuable pot.
Course Form
At bigger odds the one that makes most appeal is the two time course winner Brandy McQueen. This 7yo son of Yeats won four times over timber, including twice at Musselburgh. Those two wins came over 3 miles on good and soft ground so the conditions today won’t pose any problems.
His last win over hurdles at this track came at this meeting last season off 116. He has had only three chase runs and on the first of those he bolted up off 119 at Kelso (23.5f gd/sft). On his next start back in Novice company he got to within 10L of Trelawne over an inadequate trip of 20f at Carlisle, not a bad effort at all.
Dropped 2lbs
Brandy McQueen flopped at Doncaster in a Mickey Mouse handicap on his last start. The pot that day was £6k, today’s race is worth £100k so I’d imagine the plan was to try and get a pound or two back from the handicapper. That is exactly what happened as he was dropped 2lbs to 121.
This horse has yet to race beyond 26f. However, his three runs at that trip have returned form figures of 221 and he looks well worth a shot in this type of race.
The booking of Brian Hughes catches the eye and Graham and Rutherford have freshened up their charge since that poor Doncaster run. He has course form figures of 3411, hopefully he can add another good Musselburgh run to his resume at odds of 20/1.
2024 Musselburgh & Sandown Saturday Tip: Brandy McQueen e/w @ 20/1 (4 Places) NB
2.35 Sandown – Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase (Grade 1)
Another Grade 1 and another small field. Hermes Allen is the 6/5 fav for Nicholls and Cobden. He found French superstar Il Est Francais too hot to handle at Kempton last time but there is nothing of his calibre in this field. However, this is a more competitive race than those odds suggest and I don’t think he is banker material.
Djelo is a promising sort and he could do nothing about the misfortune that befell him at Lingfield. He is rated 149, just like Hermes Allen, and unlike his rival he has won going right handed.
C&D winner La Patron is rated 150 and he beat Colonel Harry on heavy last time. It was good to soft when he won a handicap here off 122 so the ground isn’t a worry. Nickle Back is no mug either and 16/1 looks a bit big about Sarah Humphrey’s charge.
However, with just two places on offer this is a race I am more than happy to sit out. No bet.
2024 Musselburgh & Sandown Saturday Tip: No Bet
2.50 Musselburgh – Scottish County Handicap Hurdle (Class 2)
Last year’s winner Collingham could be worth taking a punt on here. Trained by Donald McCain, who has been amongst the winners in the last fortnight, this 6yo has done very little since that win last season. It came off a mark of 121 and he is racing off 119 today.
Charlie Maggs was taking 10lbs off last year but he misses out this time. He had a bad fall on his last ride at Newcastle at the end of last month so presumably he is injured. Peter Kavanagh instead claims 3lbs so Collingham will effectively be racing off 116, 5lbs higher than he was last season.
His best run this term came on his seasonal bow over C&D. He was beat 3.5L on good to soft ground, finishing 5th behind Matchless. The way he has been ridden the last twice suggests that connections had another race in mind and surely it has to be this one. The trip, ground and track all look ideal for Collingham, hopefully he can bounce back to form at odds of 16/1.
2024 Musselburgh & Sandown Saturday Tip: Collingham e/w @ 16/1 (4 places)
3.10 Sandown – Heroes Handicap Hurdle (Premier)
At massive odds Barbados Buck’s could be worth taking a chance on in this 23.5f race. Formerly trained by Paul Nicholls, this 9yo has been written off on the back of a poor run at Ayr a month ago. However, that was on heavy ground and he is better judged on his largely consistent form on ground with good in the description.
Now trained by Darragh Bourke, he got off the mark for his new yard at Carlisle (25f gd/sft) in December. That was a 4L win off 129 and he is only 2lbs higher today. He also ran well on stable debut at Ayr in November (24.5f gd/sft) when beat just 3.25L behind Glinger Flame.
There is no denying that this fella is hard to win with but he nearly always runs his race. Especially on decent ground. His career form figures over hurdles read 110341 on gd/sft and 232 on good. He is 2/4 going right handed over timber and he’ll surely be doing his best today. All things considered, 40/1 looks a wrong price so back Barbados Buck’s e/w.
2024 Musselburgh & Sandown Saturday Tip: Barbados Buck’s e/w @ 40/1 (5 places Hills) NAP
3.45 Sandown – Masters Handicap Chase (Class 2)
Ten runners here but to be honest, it is hard to make a case for any of the outsiders. Fortescue is an exceedingly frustrating sort to follow. He has loads of ability but he is a lazy fecker in the middle part of his races and that tends to cost him.
Moroder has shown nothing so far this season and Full Back is hard to fancy after falling and pulling up the last twice. Java Point is on a nice mark and he could improve markedly for his seasonal reappearance on his second start for Henry Oliver. However, he might just want a bit of softer ground.
On a weekend where we’ll have lots of betting opportunities, I’m going to leave this race well alone. No bet.
