2026 Sandown Saturday Preview & Tips – DS
2026 Sandown Saturday Preview & Tips
Last weekend didn’t go too well but at least we avoided the dreaded blank with Ayiko placing at Ayr. The jumps season is coming to an end over the next week or so, with Punchestown in Ireland next week and the Bet365 Gold Gup this weekend. Dave Stevos’ 2026 Sandown Saturday tips are below.
1.45 Sandown – Novices’ Championship Handicap Hurdle (Class 2)
We managed to find Helnewin in this race at 25/1 in 2024, can we repeat the trick? As is usually the case, it is an ultra-competitive race with an interesting mix of horses. Some of them have well and truly already showed their hands, like the top weight Cosmic Connection, who has won three of his last four, and Minella Yoga, who has a similar sort of record.
However, I would prefer to be on one that possibly hasn’t shown their full capabilities yet and the horse that fits the bill is the Toby Lawes’ trained Talakan. A winner over 1m6f on the Flat in France, he’s yet to win in three starts over timber but he probably could and should have won at Warwick last time and his previous start at Ludlow was arguably his best run of all.
In that race he finished close up behind King Al, who followed up on his handicap debut off 119 at Ascot. 2l back in third was Wolf Rayet, now rated 133 after a fine run in an Aintree Grade 1 last time out. That suggests Talakan is potentially very well handicapped off a mark of 118 and I’m hoping that he gets a strong pace to aim at here given that he stays 1m6f on the level. If he does, he is capable of hitting the frame at odds of 16/1.
2026 Sandown Saturday tip: Talakan e/w @ 16/1 (4 places 1/4 odds) nap
2.05 Leicester – King Richard III Cup Handicap (Class 2)
We also have a couple of Flat handicaps today and the one I’ll take a chance on here is the former C&D winner, Dark Cloud Rising. Trained by David O’Meara, this horse enjoyed a fruitful campaign last year, winning three races.
He won off 85 on his handicap debut and seasonal return at Pontefract and then five starts later he scored here off 87. In November, he won at Newcastle off 89 and he is just 3lb higher now.
It is fair to say that the son of Dark Angel ran pretty poorly on his seasonal return at Pontefract. However, he may have needed it, the ground was on the easy side and I’m hoping that O’Meara was using it as a prep run for a crack at this bigger pot. Dark Cloud Rising will get his favoured fast ground here and at odds of 16/1, hopefully he can get back on track and land the place money (at least!).
2026 Leicester Saturday tip: Dark Cloud Rising e/w @ 16/1 (4 places) NB
2.20 Sandown – Oaksey Chase (Grade 2)
A poor Grade 2 and with just seven runners, this is a race I’ll be giving a wide berth too. I’d love to see Mahons Glory run well but he had a tough aul race at Aintree so he won’t be carrying my cash on this occasion. No bet.
2026 Sandown Saturday tip: No Bet
2.35 Haydock – William Hill Handicap (Class 2)
I was going to put Darkness up here but in the end, I decided not to. He ran a cracker on his only previous visit to Haydock but he’s an 8yo who has never managed to win off a mark this high so I will leave him alone here and wait until his mark has dropped to below 90. Watch him piss home now!
One horse who is certainly capable of winning off his current mark, if he puts his best hoof forward, is the Karl Burke trained Korker. Now, this horse hasn’t won since 2023 but he’s run plenty of excellent races in defeat and finally, it looks like the handicapper is giving the 7yo a chance.
He’s down to a mark of 94 now, 8lb lower than he was for his last win, and 9lb lower than he was when beaten just 3.75l in the Wokingham last June. He ran poorly on his seasonal reappearance last time but that may have been needed and he should strip fitter now.
Burke is stepping this 7yo up to 7f for the first time in his career and on more than one occasion last year, he shaped like this sort of trip might suit and once Pierre-Louis Jamin drops Korker out early and gets him settled (like Jack Nicholls did when he finished third at York last May), hopefully he can thread a passage and sneak into the places.
At odds of 25/1, he’s the each way selection.
2026 Sandown Saturday tip: Korker e/w @ 25/1 (4 places)
2.55 Sandown – Celebration Chase (Grade 1)
Another graded race I’ll just be watching. I’d love to see Solness gain compensation for his near miss at Aintree but unfortunately, he’s too short for the blog this time. No bet.
2026 Sandown Saturday tip: no bet
3.30 Sandown – Bet365 Gold Cup Handicap Chase (Premier)
I’m not sure this is the strongest ever renewal of the Whitbread so I’m going to chance one at a massive price. Certainly Red is a 12yo now and after he missed all of 2025 after pulling up at this venue in December 2024, it was hugely doubtful that he would ever come back.
However, Lydia Richards’ patience paid off and he made his comeback here in March, running a blinding race to finish a 3.25l third, despite doing a fair amount wrong. He races off the same mark here and he’s just 2lb higher than when an excellent fourth in this contest in 2024.
That was on good ground, as was his win over 3m here in November 2024 off 139 and he’s 2lb lower now. The son of Midnight Legend clearly has an affinity for the Esher track and his course form figures of 173241P3 back that assertion up.
Maybe it’s crazy to back a 12yo that has tried, and failed, to win this race twice before but Run To Freedom took four tries to win the Abernant so maybe it’s not that crazy after all. At odds of 33/1, Certainly Red is the each way selection. Fingers crossed he puts in a clear round and gives us a good run for our money.
