Saturday
Saturday looks a belting day of racing across the UK and Ireland and I'm rarely looking forward to taking it all in.
I rate the chances of the much improved COQUELICOT who I expect to take some pegging back in the 3m handicap hurdle at Sandown. Anthony Honeyball' smart has shown improved form this year, holding off West Balboa here and also beating Glimpse Of Gala at Ascot. Both bits of form have been boosted and I expect the selection to step forward again from those performances. This looks a winnable race despite there being plenty of runners and her low weight will surely help up the hill.
I was very keen on LASKALIN last time out but he was too free early on which left him with very little late on. He still finished a respectable third. His earlier run at Ludlow where he almost beat the course record on soft ground was a huge effort so I half suspected him to return to a similar speedy track where his free going nature would be more of an advantage for him rather than a stiff track like Sandown. However, I do think he's a lot better than 133 so hopefully he shows it.
I wouldn't put anyone off a small saver on MOVEWITHTHECHAINS who looks overpriced at 25/1. Gary Moore's horse was a progressive type last term and returns with a solid 5th in the Welsh National this time around. That was a good effort and he should be dismissed.
I'll probably be taking a watching brief in Ireland this weekend but I wanted to touch on the 2.30 at Leopardstown. Willie Mullins should be applauded for allowing all of his top notch novices run here because not many would. Its going to be a fair dust up and I don't think there is much between any of them but if you forced me to punt one I'd side with the lightly raced EL FABIOLO who still could be anything yet. His novice hurdle form is really good and it will be interesting to see how he matches up here against some other top horses. At 13/2 he looks the bet.
Sandown 2.55 – Coquelicot
Sandown 3.30 – Laskalin / Movethechains
Leopardstown 2.30 – El Fabiolo
