Sandown and Haydock Saturday Tips Dave Stevos
Sandown and Haydock Saturday Tips and Preview
Friday was a pretty decent day for us at Sandown and Perth. Buxted too, advised e/w at 22/1 drifted all the way out to 40s and finished 2nd. Extra Elusive ran really well to finish 3rd, just missing out on place money. Buck Dancing also drifted like a barge out to 50s but thankfully he grabbed place money too in 4th. Belloccio was disappointing but he wasn’t suited by how the race was run. Hopefully we can get a winner on the board tomorrow. Check out Dave Stevos’ Sandown and Haydock Saturday tips below.
1.55 Sandown – Novices’ Championship Final Hurdle (Class 2)
The official jumps season ends this afternoon at Sandown. The first live ITV race of the day is the 16f Novices’ Championship final and a field of 14 will go to post. It is 11/2 the field and it looks a wide open renewal. My idea of a decent e/w bet in this contest is Twominutes Turkish for Josh Moore and Chris Gordon. This 6yo son of Mahler is making his handicap debut and on one of his Novice runs he looks potentially very well treated off a rating of 122.
This horse has had just five runs under rules and his best form has come on nice ground. He hosed up by 15L on his hurdling debut at Fakenham (16f gd). He followed that up with an even better run when carrying a penalty in a Novice heat at Warwick. Twominutes Turkish was 5.5L behind Cadzand that day, conceding 6lb. That horse won a decent handicap at Kempton off 129 on his next start and he is now rated 138.
The fact that Josh Moore is back on board for the first time since this fella won is a positive. He has a superb frame hitting strike rate of over 80% for Chris Gordon. From just 27 rides he has amassed 6 wins and a further 16 top four finishes. You can put a line through this horse’s last run as the ground was soft. Back on his preferred ground, a big run could be on the cards at odds of 10/1.
Sandown and Haydock Saturday Tips: Twominutes Turkish e/w @ 10/1 NB (4 places)
2.10 Leicester – King Richard III Stakes (Listed)
The sole live ITV race of the day from Leicester is this 7f Listed heat for older horses (4yo+). Disappointingly, only five will go to post and Richard Hannon trains two of them. Mums Tipple is the mount of Sean Levey and he is the shorter of the two in the betting. Dropping back in trip to 7f should suit him. However, he has shown all his best recent form an the all-weather. Beat Le Bon also represents Hannon and this time Holly Doyle gets a shot on him.
This is a horse I have tipped up a couple of times and I have no doubt he is talented enough to beat this lot on his day. On his return to turf at Doncaster Sean Levey inexplicably tried to make all on this hold up type. Unsurprisingly, he finished well beaten. It was a much better effort last time when he was ridden more patiently at Newmarket.
With Mums Tipple, Pogo and Shine So Bright in this field I reckon this race could be run to suit Beat Le Bon. All three of those horses like to get on with things in front and they might just set it up for a finisher. Even with just two places available, at odds of 10/1 a small each way interest on Beat Le Bon is advised.
Leicester Saturday Tips: Beat Le Bon e/w @ 10/1
2.30 Sandown – Oaksey Chase (Grade 2)
Another small field for this Grade 2 Chase with just the four due to line up behind the tape. Frodon is the odds on jolly for Nicholls and Frost. The King George hero came unstuck over 26f in the Gold Cup but this drop back to 22f will be a lot more to his liking. No doubt he will go hard from the front and a bold bid looks assured. Mister Fisher is the biggest threat on paper but his jumping has gone to pieces in recent runs. If he gets into a rhythm early he could be dangerous but there is no way you could be confident in his chances after his last two displays.
Born Survivor take a big step up in class after his facile handicap win last time out. The 10yo deserves to take his chance but it is a big ask. Militarian completes the field for the Martins. He is a talented horse on his day and I wouldn’t be surprised if he beat the Skelton horse. Given Mister Fisher’s jumping issues, I am going to advise a small reverse forecast on Frodon and Militarian (just in case the unthinkable happens and he manages to beat Frodon!).
Sandown and Haydock Saturday Tips: Frodon/Militarian Reverse Forecast
2.50 Haydock – Casumo Handicap (Class 2)
This 7f class 2 handicap looks a pretty tricky puzzle to solve. Gobi Sunset is the pace angle of the race in stall 8 and I am hoping he takes them along at a good clip. If he does that could help Dulas to settle and he will hopefully get a nice tow into the race from stall 6. This son of Raven’s Pass was a bit of a boyo on occasion last season. It is no surprise to see he has been gelded. He returns to action off a mark of 80. On his run behind Nefarious at Newmarket (6f gd/fm) off 83 he has every chance of being competitive today if ready to rock on his return to action.
This fella’s sole win to date came over 6f at Newcastle when he made all in a Novice. He flopped on his handicap debut at Doncaster but I am not sure he enjoyed the ground. It was a lot better next time at Newmarket (6f gd/fm), even though he only finished 5th. He gave trouble at the stalls and was slowly away so he did well to finish just 1.5L behind the winner Nefarious.
His only other runs on quick ground were both decent efforts too. He was beat 5L in a quality Newmarket maiden on debut (7f) in which Al Suhail finished 2nd. Then at Leicester (7f) he was the same distance behind Highest Ground (now rated 111). His win came after a 74 day break so he can go well fresh and Charles Hills has his string in solid form. If the gelding operation has improved his temperament, Dulas could easily outrun his odds of 16/1.
Sandown and Haydock Saturday Tips: Dulas e/w @ 16/1 (4 places)
3.05 Sandown – Bet365 Celebration Chase (Grade 1)
What a treat we are in for here. The Grade 1 Celebration Chase is a cracker, even with just seven runners. It is a stacked field and Altior, Put The Kettle On and Sceau Royal are battling it out for favouritism. Altior is having just his second start of the season. He was no match for Nube Negra at Kempton last time out but this ground will suit him a lot better. However, Nicky Henderson’s charge is an 11yo now and it could just be that old father time is catching up with him.
Put The Kettle on is a brilliant mare who landed the Champion Chase at Cheltenham. She is gutsy, she jumps brilliantly and I think she is going to be even better on the genuine good ground at Sandown. Sceau Royal has 4L to find with her on their meeting at The Festival but he would surely have finished closer only for the interference he suffered.
Trip Concerns For Nuts Well
Greanteen finished 4th at Cheltenham, 2L behind Put The Kettle On. It was a cracking effort by him but he has come up short at Grade 1 and Grade 2 level now on his last three starts. We backed Nuts Well last time at Aintree and he lost no caste in defeat behind Fakir D’oudairies. He didn’t enjoy a clear run but this is a hotter race and he might find the going tough down in distance.
Ornua and Dolos complete the field but they both look to be up against it. To be honest, I think the bookies have their prices spot on for this race. If a peak Altior shows up he could hack up but we haven’t seen that version of him for some time. Put The Kettle on looks the most solid option but she did have a tough race at Cheltenham. I won’t be having a bet here, I’ll just sit back and enjoy the spectacle. Hopefully the race lives up to its billing.
Sandown and Haydock Saturday Tips: No Bet
3.40 Sandown – Bet365 Gold Cup (Grade 3)
The last big handicap of the jumps season is the 29f bet365 Gold Cup. A field of 16 horses will go to post and the one I like at a price is Cap Du Nord for Christian Williams and Nick Schofield. This horse handles soft ground but all six of his career wins have come on ground with good in the description. He threw in a rare poor effort when pulled up last time over hurdles at Kelso. However, chasing is this fella’s game and he ran much better on his previous run off 142 behind Clondaw Castle at Kempton (24f gd).
He jumped left that day and was beaten 10L but he stayed on well to the line. I think this new trip could really suit him. He didn’t quite get home when 3rd behind Takingrisks over 24f at Doncaster but that was on soft ground. His 3L defeat off 133 to the then 140 rated Royal Pagaille (now rated 166) looks like alright form in hindsight and those two pulled 22L clear of the 3rd that day.
Jack Tudor usually rides this horse but he has decided to jump ship to Kitty’s Light. Nick Schofield looks a good substitute though and he has ridden 7 winners in the past for Williams. Cap Du Nord has winning course form in the book over hurdles and he ran well here in a chase too over 20f on soft. With ground and track to suit, I can see this fella running a huge race. At odds of 18/1, Cap Du Nord is the e/w NAP of the day.
