Latest news with #WilliamHillHandicapHurdle
The Guardian
07-03-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Cheltenham festival pointers await with £100,000 bonus bid at Sandown
The bonus-chasers are out in force once again in the feature race at Sandown on Saturday, with 10 of the 17 declared runners for the Imperial Cup Handicap Hurdle holding an entry for at least one race at the Cheltenham festival and hoping for a chance to pick up an extra £100,000 at the season's showpiece meeting next week. The most likely candidates in a typically competitive renewal of the last significant event before the festival include last year's winner, Go Dante, who has not managed to add another win to his record in six subsequent starts but looked to be working his way back to form when seventh in the valuable William Hill Handicap Hurdle at Newbury last month. He was still around 16 lengths behind the easy winner, Joyeuse, in that race, however, while Sam Thomas's Lump Sum (2.25), the top weight, was eight lengths closer to Nicky Henderson's mare in second. Lump Sum heads the weights again on Saturday, but the stable's useful claimer, Dylan Johnston, takes off a handy 3lb and time may well show that the seven-year-old faced an impossible task trying to give 21lb to the lightly raced and fast-improving Joyeuse last time out. Lump Sum holds an entry in the County Handicap Hurdle, the second race on Gold Cup day next week, and looks over-priced at around 8-1 to give his excellent stable a tilt at the six-figure bonus. Sandown 1.50 Paul Nicholls has a strong recent record in this handicap and Belliano, who won with something to spare at Market Rasen last time, can give the trainer a third win in five seasons. Hereford 2.05 Track and going look ideal for the front-running Hypotenus to get a soft lead and notch his first win of the current campaign. Wolverhampton 2.45 A closely matched field of handicappers and the lightly raced Silent Age could outrun huge early odds of up to 40-1. He was entitled to need his first run for 10 months when making his debut for Ian Williams last month, finished fourth in a warm Newmarket handicap in May last year and makes plenty of each-way appeal with most bookies offering four places. Sandown 1.15 Narragansett 1.50 Belliano 2.25 Lump Sum (nap) 3.00 Charisma Cat 3.35 Dreaming Blue 4.10 Walks Like the Man 4.45 Theformismighty Hereford 1.30 Musique De Fee 2.05 Hypotenus 2.35 Lions Peak 3.10 Lyle View 3.45 Langley Hundred 4.20 Greatness Awaits 4.55 Gaelic Saint Ayr 1.42 King Of Answers 2.17 Heads Or Harps 2.50 Fox's Fancy 3.25 Thereisnodoubt 4.00 Ned Tanner 4.35 Glory Hights 5.10 Geordie Mackem Wolverhampton 2.45 Silent Age 3.20 Al Shabab Storm (nb) 3.55 Arizona Rock 4.30 Harbour Vision 5.05 Probe 5.40 Bank On Kent 6.15 Civil Law Chelmsford 5.25 Major Major 6.00 Pantile Warrior 6.30 Just Like Magic 7.00 Silky Robin 7.30 Match Anthem 8.00 Angelica K 8.30 Repartee Sandown 3.00 Charisma Cat is arguably a little unlucky not to be unbeaten having found some trouble in running last time before gaining all the way to the line and eventually going down by a neck. Conditions look ideal for Alan King's mare to make amends. Wolverhampton 3.20 The surface is an unknown for Al Shabab Storm but he could well prove to be a very shrewd purchase for the Marco Botti yard and his turf form, including a Listed win at Chester in July, gives him every chance. Sandown 3.35 Better ground should bring the best out of Dreaming Blue, who appeared to have a valuable handicap chase in his grasp over course and distance last month but faded within sight of the line after a gruelling climb up the hill on heavy going.
The Independent
07-03-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Saturday's Sandown Tips & Best Bets: G-Force to Hit Sandown Hard
Sandown tips George's Lad (Sandown, 1.50) – each-way @ 13/2 William Hill (1/5 odds, five places) Kepler's Law (Sandown, 1.50) – each-way @ 18/1 BetVictor (1/5 odds, 5 places) Go Dante (Sandown, 2.25) – each-way @ 7/1 bet365 (1/5 odds, 5 places) Goshen (Sandown, 3.35) – win @ 7/1 bet365 Cheltenham is looming large on the horizon as betting sites turn their focus to the biggest betting event of the year, but before all that hullabaloo, there's still the small matter of Imperial Cup day at Sandown to enjoy. Emma Lavelle's string have been rattling along at a terrific strike-rate since the turn of the year, and the in-form handler appears to have a healthy chance of landing the EBF Handicap Hurdle at Sandown. The Wiltshire trainer has sent out 16 winners from just 60 runners since January 1 and both Silver Thorn and George's Lad (Sandown, 1.50) look live contenders for the valuable novices' handicap. Slight preference would be for the latter who bolted up at Doncaster last time, thumping subsequent scorer Calimystic with ease, earning an 11lb rise in the handicap despite jockey Harry Cobden doing his best not to win too far. Sadly, Cobden is claimed to ride Belliano by his stable, but Liam Harrison is an able deputy aboard a horse which remains unexposed at this trip. I can't let Kepler's Law (Sandown, 1.50) run unbacked either, especially with former champion jockey Brian Hughes forsaking a normal trip to Ayr to head south. Laura Morgan's son of Jack Hobbs won in a canter at Leicester at the end of January and clearly operates very well on testing ground, so conditions should be to his liking, and he looks overpriced on horse racing betting sites. Sandown 1.50 tips Sandown Imperial Cup tips Go Dante (Sandown, 2.25) has been campaigned with the Imperial Cup in mind all season and looks primed to make a bold bid to repeat last year's success in the Saturday feature. True soft ground would have increased confidence in the nine-year-old's chances, but conditions may well still be exacting, and the selection will have plenty of pace to aim at in the straight with at least three confirmed front-runners in opposition. His latest effort behind Joyeuse in the William Hill Handicap Hurdle at Newbury hinted that he was approaching peak fitness, and he should relish returning to a right-handed track. Goshen at home in Esher Goshen (Sandown, 3.35) boasts form figures of 11243 at the Esher venue and has run better on both of his recent starts than his finishing position suggests. Sent off at 33/1 on betting apps for his penultimate outing over hurdles at Sandown, Gary Moore's popular nine-year-old stayed on well to take third behind the front-running Red Dirt Road who dominated from the outset and got loose on the lead. The gelding's subsequent display over fences in a warm Ascot handicap chase again highlighted he remains in good heart and this smaller field chase should really play to his strengths as his strike-rate in seven-runner fields or less is eight wins from just 22 starts. When using gambling sites, be aware that sports betting can be addictive, so please take steps to remain in control of your time and budget. The same applies whether you're using slot sites, casino sites, casino apps, or any other gambling medium. Bettors should always follow responsible gambling practices. Even the most knowledgeable punter can lose a bet, so always stick to a budget and never chase your losses. It's particularly important not to get carried away by any free bets or casino offers you might receive, both of which are available in abundance on gambling sites, but must be approached with caution. You can stay in control by making use of the responsible gambling tools offered, such as deposit limits, loss limits, self-exclusion and time-outs. You may also want to visit the following free organisations to discuss any issues with gambling you might be having:
