Our resident tipster Ben Morgan selects his best bets for Saturday’s action at Chester and Sandown
Chester 2.40 – Alsakib looks a cut above in Listed contest
There is no doubting ALSAKIB is on a retrieval mission here after a complete no show at York last time but if he does bounce back to anywhere near his best, I think he will take some beating here.
The initial pricing of this race looked questionable when Minella Rescue, a 3m handicap chaser for Gary Hanmer, was priced up a point behind the 109-rated Alsakib on what would be his flat debut.
The market has corrected itself slightly since, but I think the selection would be favourite here if it wasn’t for his York blowout last time out.
Any rain will be welcome and I am more than hopeful he can bounce back to winning ways here.
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Chester 5.35 – OJ ready to give it to his rivals
Gary Moore doesn’t send many runners up to Chester so the fact he sends two today suggests he must fancy at least one to take home some prize money.
I really like this horse as he seemed to improve throughout last winter, culminating in a dominant win at Sandown off a big weight.
That improvement in his jumps rating suggests he could have a few pounds in hand here if that form translates to the level.
This isn’t the deepest race despite 13 runners and he does look to be one of the better weighted horses in here so if ready to roll after a break I think he will be troubling the judge.
Sandown 3.00 – London Gold Cup winner looks hard to oppose on return
I didn’t expect to see SADDADD run in another handicap after his London Gold Cup win earlier in the season but here he is running off a mark of 101 in a competitive Sandown Saturday handicap.
He looked every inch a Group horse when improving to win at Newbury last time out but given the dry Summer we have had, Roger Varian has been waiting for the ground to ease slightly which it looks likely to do before Saturday.
I’m sure fitness won’t be a problem and if he has physically improved since we last saw him, I think he will take the world of beating here.
Sandown 4.45 – O’Meara in need of a Hero for a change in Luck
I think it’s quite telling that Oisin Murphy has been enlisted to do the steering on David O’Meara’s only runner at Sandown on Saturday, especially after his last run.
He looked like the winner all the way up the straight, but couldn’t overhaul two of his rivals who had a smoother run around Chester than he did.
However, I am not sure whether or not David Nolan dropped his whip as he didn’t appear to use it late on when it looked like one or two taps would see him pull out a bit more to get his head in front.
A return to a stiffer track like Sandown should see him in a better light and I hope he could prove himself to be well handicapped like I think he is.
