By Tony Calvin - 28 August 2025
It’s a case of after the Lord Mayor’s showers at Sandown today – more like a Friday deluge (18mm in total), but that didn’t fit with the contrived intro – so we are left with the familiar story of drying, possibly tacky, churned-up ground, which is usually no use to man or beast, or punters.
So tread carefully stakes-wise, and check for changing each-way terms with all the NRs.
There is rain about at all three ITV tracks today but it shouldn’t affect the ground, as whatever is due (not a lot) is set to land during or after racing (see stats and info section below).
I’ll drip-feed the betting updates in course by course, starting with Beverley, as their clerk was out of the scratcher first (BHA update 6.43am).
In the opener at 1.30pm, that early Thursday 2s about Crown Of Oaks is long gone – I wonder how many rushed that out as a maximum-bet selection at the price – and he is now [10/11] across the board.
As you may have read below, that is understandable enough given his profile but no way in the world would I touch him at those odds.
Be aware that he is David Jennings’ nap of the day (at 11/10, admittedly) in the Racing Post….
The horse is now a NR as at 7.39am though, because of the ground. That market is in some for shuffle.
The rain has totally missed Beverley this week, so much so that they watered 4mm on Wednesday night, and added another 2mm last night, so even the drifting odds about Titian (a general 16s, with one firm offering four places at 14s) are not tempting me in.
Mind you, if you can get that the 14s-four places combo, that isn’t a bad bet.
The naughty boy Clarendon House is a non-runner in the Beverley Bullet at 2.05pm– I suspect the BHA gave him the bullet for this race after he refused to come out of the stalls in the last at Southwell on Thursday (though to be fair he may just have had enough of the Racing League TV coverage by then – do they realise just how bad it is?) – so that is one less rival for Regional to worry about here.
No rain is a big plus for him (no watering would have been even better) and he has hardened into [6/4] from [7/4].
I have no issue with that, and no real desire to take him on.
The Chester clerk was the next one out of the sack (BHA update 7.09am) – I know they all get up at silly o’clock but let me have my juvenile fun, please – so they come next.
It is on the quick side here too (officially anyway…) as they missed the rain yesterday.
The 2.40pm looks a nasty race – even nastier now Tashkhan is out, making this a seven-runner race – and the 4s that one firm dangled about Alsakib on Thursday (that was a maximum-bet at 4s, I reckon) has been crushed into 2s top and he may even go off favourite.
DJ’s sparring partner Johnny Dineen “cannot wait to get stuck into” market rival Tabletalk, though.
Yes, I did read their column this morning while waiting for the going updates….
Too Soon has now joined Tashkhan on the sidelines, which means Allonsy is the sole pace angle, it seems.
Chester wide-draw NRs are always amusing and the 3.15pm has delivered again.
Array was a NR as of 9.36am on Friday. He has been coughing – being drawn 12 of 14 at Chester can do that to a horse.
Perfect Part is a NR as at 7.11am with an abscess. It must have been the worry of being drawn 14 of 14 which brought that on overnight…
Any more NRs, and firms may pull the extra places, so keep an eye out there.
In fact, Thunder Roar (drawn nine) was a later NR at 7.43am (bruised foot – presumably kicked the stable door when he found out he wasn’t drawn on the inner) and Flying Finn, who was drawn one for editorial balance, is also out at 8.37am (going).
I’ve had a nibble on Al Shabab Storm at [10/1] each way, four places (still there), in the hope he blasts and sits handy from stall three, just behind Sir Paul Ramsey in two perhaps, and kicks on up the straight. A very small bet though (£20 each way if you want to know).
Palindromic course form figures of 2112 look fair enough to warrant an each-way interest, top-weight or not.
There is some 11s out there, but Stoke isn’t a place I have been able to visit since 2014 (and then only for four days).
Come on Cooney, we all gotta eat.
You have to feel sorry for Sandown, as Friday’s 18mm has already seen 20 non-runners as at 8.30am, 19 of them going-related.
The original 14-runner handicap at 5.20pm is already down to seven.
The each-way terms of the 4.10pm have also changed after four NRs.
I am just going through the revised markets now but they are a moveable feast/famine with the NRs still coming through.
Four NRs so far in the 1.50pm, which means we are down to 11 in the 7f handicap.
Headmaster, 8s in Stoke on Thursday afternoon, is now top at [11/4] , just ahead of Kodi Lion at 3s.
I outlined why he would be backed below and why I have gone lukewarm on my initial fancy. last year’s winner Glenfinnan, as there is nothing in his record that suggests he wants it soft.
Tarkhan does and I can see he is now into 10s (he was 14s late yesterday afternoon before the Rule 4s).
As it stands, there are no NRs in the 2.25pm.
I spoke too soon as Cathedral came out at 10.53am because of the ground. She ranged from 6s to [15/2], so they’ll be a Rule 4.
The 13-runner Atalanta at 2.25pm still looks as tricky as you like though, with [11/2] the field, and it isn’t the greatest surprise to see Alobayyah go for a massive walk out to [15.5] in an admittedly illiquid Betfair market (just over 21k matched – £10.5k backed – as at 8.25am) , for all the rain was presumably a plus for her.
I’ve resisted the temptation to have a small bet on Flight at [17/2] or [11.0] on the exchange.
Thankfully, I managed to get some 33s and 28s each-way about Savvy Victory in the 3pm, where there are currently two non-runners (Gaassee and Theory Of Tides) .
I am happy with that – the position, not the nons.
I had another look at this race yesterday afternoon, and I can fully see why Brioni has gone from 20s and 18s into a current 10s.
I may have something on that one if he drifts back out to 14s or so win-only on the exchange, as 10s is about the right price now.
Nothing doing in the Solario at 3.35pm, a race in which Pacific Avenue is currently very weak in the absence of Publish.
He was trading at around [5/4] on the exchange immediately after Publish came out but he is now [3.3] there as at 9.05am. Humidity is now right up his arse at [3.5] as regards favouritism.
I hope that is the end of the NRs at Sandown, as they deserve the fields to hold up now.
As at 9am on Friday, Sandown had 16mm of rain since midnight.
With more showers to come (potentially heavy), I’d work on the basis of soft minimum there on Friday, then it remains to be seen how it dries out for tomorrow (looks pretty dry from evening onwards).
The going stick reading is now 5.0, having been 6.3 on Thursday.
It started raining again there at 4pm, though it looks like they only got 2-3mm (may have got another late shower after racing).
The ground is now soft all over though, and the evens favourite Publish is a big non-runner in the Solario as of 6.03pm.
Not many firms bothered to price this handicap up at the five-day stage but Crown Of Oaks was put in at between [5/2] and 3s by those who did, and he is now down to [13/8] in two places – there was some 2s about earlier on Thursday – with the field cutting up to just 10 runners, from 22 five-day entries.
He is now tops at [11/10] at 5.45am on Friday morning.
I should mention that Beverley watered on Wednesday night (4mm) after the forecast rain didn’t materialise.
All the usual going, weather and watering details are below, along with the stats and information section.
Anyway, back to Crown Of Oaks, who is a full brother to Royal Ascot winner English Oak, as well as being related to other 100+-rated winners, so the potential for him to kick on from his current handicap mark of 85 is obvious.
His Ayr win last month could have worked out better so he is no gimme off a 6lb higher mark on the bare form, but he won snugly enough there and this Cambridgeshire entry has the profile of a horse with plenty more to give.
He will need luck in running from trap one, but you suspect he is the kind of horse who can make his own fortune here and still win.
But it does look a relatively deep and competitive race for a 0-85, and Titian was the horse that actually appealed to me most on Tuesday (in any weekend race) at 14s each way, 1/4 1,2,3,4.
That is hardly saying much though, given the ante-post markets were decidedly unappealing.
Titian wouldn’t have minded the forecast rain earlier in the week, so that no-show is not ideal, and I have no idea how good/competent the 5lb claimer is, but he looks a solid enough each-way proposition at 14s, for all the firms (bar one, who trim their prices accordingly) are now three places.
He finished second of five in this race when it was run as a 0-105 in 2021 and he comes here in decent form, beating Financer at York and then following up with a solid fourth at Haydock last time off this mark.
However, the more I looked at the race, the less he appealed – though any significant rain would re-ignite my interest – as several outside of the favourite have plausible place claims too, maybe Desert Shadow, who bumped into Dangerman (runs at Sandown) last time, chief among them. The 6s about him has returned.
There were 26 in this at the five-day stage, so 15 (for a maximum field of 16) looks a fair haul for this 7f handicap.
Kodi Lion and Woroodd are the obvious ones I guess, but Headmaster is undeniably the most intriguing after being backed off the boards at Goodwood last time, being sent off at [85/40] in a 16-runner handicap, and finishing stone last.
That move was particularly extreme as he was ridden by Mirai Iwata – I think we can assume it wasn’t Johnny Dineen’s money that forced his price down that day – who looks to be now back riding in Japan after a summer stint with the Newmarket trainer.
It is very unlike the Haggas yard to get it so wrong, so we can surely expect a much better run here. Bizarrely, the handicapper dropped him 1lb for the Goodwood run (they normally totally ignore these kind of abysmal efforts, especially with horses with a lightly-raced profile) and he looks well-weighted on any and all of his first three efforts.
His pedigree, by Dubawi out of the stable’s Group 1 winner One Master, would also hint that he could be a tad better than an 87-rated performer, too.
He was 8s in a place early on Thursday and I wouldn’t lay that.
He is now best at [15/2] in a place – that clearly won’t last – with 6s and [11/2] the general price.
It didn’t last and he is now best at 5s as at 5.45am on Friday morning, and [7/2] tops at 4.30pm.
Glenfinnan won this handicap last year off a mark of 93 but he races off an 11lb lower mark here.
He has been running poorly (as he was coming into this contest last season) but he showed a lot more at Newcastle last time.
His jockey seemed to make a big point of raising his whip head-height for two smacks there in the closing stages – he wasn’t given a hard time – and the general 12s each way, four places, looks fair (11s, five places), though a weather watch is needed for him. His record strongly suggests he wants good ground.
Headmaster could be the key to this race, though he is unproven with plenty of dig (Timeform don’t have him racing on anything softer than good). However, his dam loved the slop and won a Group 1 on heavy.
Cavolo Nero is a NR as at 4.38pm on Friday (going), and he was followed by Watson’s Law at 9.16pm.
I didn’t think we would see Regional in the Beverley Bullet, to be honest, given he is also in the Group 1 Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock a week on Saturday, but presumably connections think he can handle both assignments.
This does look a very winnable 40k first-prize pot though, and the field cutting up to 10 (from 21) at the overnight stage lessens the potential for hard luck, in-running stories.
He was [5/2] earlier in the week, and he is now best at a general [7/4], including with AKBets.
You’d have thought his Group 1 class should see him through here, but the first-time blinkers are an unknown – and unknowns are never good when playing at short prices – and he has little, if anything, in hand of Star Of Lady M at the weights.
The problem with backing David O’Meara’s mare is that we haven’t seen her since October, so she must have had an issue or two, and of course the other form horse, Clarendon House, is as reliable as a purchase from a 1980s and 90s Peckham market-stall, as well as him carrying a 3lb penalty for a Southwell Listed win in February if he even consents to start.
He is also set to run in the 8.45pm at Southwell on Thursday (he refused to race again after being backed – and is a NR as at 2.43pm on Friday).
The Clive Cox pair of Kerdos and Redorange are solid enough, along with Adrestia (second in at 9/2) and First Instinct, but they all have a fair bit to find if the unpenalized Regional rocks up here and runs his race.
But I can leave him alone at the price, especially if they get more rain than is now expected, which would hamper his chances.
With similar fillies & mares’ races in Ireland this week (Curragh on Saturday, and Tipperary on Sunday) there were no real surprise absentees at the overnight stage, with perhaps Chantilly Lace and Never Let Go the most notable no-shows.
Blue Bolt has held her position at the top of the market but the main shortener (though probably not through weight of money) is Haggas’ Alobayyah.
She was in the Curragh race on Saturday, but she was taken out of that heat on Tuesday morning, which indicated she would be coming here – hence, her price shortened as a result, though the excellent Andrew Asquith flagged her up in his Sporting Life column at 14s and 12s, when she still had that Irish option.
She is now just [11/2].
We haven’t seen her since she bolted up (well-backed on the show) at Yarmouth on soft ground in October, so she must have had her problems since, but she has to be respected, given the outfit she represents.
And Haggas wouldn’t be coming straight into Group company if she wasn’t ready after that absence.
On form, she has a mountain to climb, as the Yarmouth form was all style over substance, and her current price makes no appeal in this grade, with so much to prove.
And she will have to get down and dirty to win in this big field from trap five, and I imagine they will want the delayed rain to materialise for her, although Sandown is surprisingly no quicker than good already (and due to get some rain early on Friday – and they have…)
It’s a very close-knit race on ratings – there is no stand-out at the weights, with Spiritual carrying a 3lb penalty – but Flight is bang up there on her 1,000 Guineas second.
She has clearly not reproduced that form in two subsequent starts, but this course winner is the one to beat on her Newmarket run.
However, her current price of [17/2] isn’t quite doing it for me – I was expecting more from her at Royal Ascot – in a race in which you could fancy plenty of various formlines.
I may be being a bit picky there, though. I may have relented by Saturday morning.
William Haggas pulled out his pair Hamish and Sam Hawkens at the overnight stage, with Jessie Harrington’s Taipan another notable no-show – they accounted for three of the first four in the ante-post market – so little wonder that Tabletalk is now just a 2s poke, and shorter elsewhere.
This is now a very, very winnable 34k pot for the victor, and last year’s Melrose scorer looks best placed to net this sizeable haul on the balance of his form this season.
The stable is in very good form but I suppose the two doubts are the first-time cheekpieces and the track being an unknown.
And, for all he is the form horse, he doesn’t have that much in hand of Chester winner Alsakib, though that one comes here after a shocker at York last time.
The race’s depth (or lack of) is hammered home by the fact that the bumper winner and 139-rated hurdler Minella Rescue is a single-figure price in this.
Once again, Tabletalk is much the likeliest winner but is priced accordingly.
Nothing doing for now.
I wouldn’t fall over myself to lay you the [7/2] in a place about Saddadd but I was surprised to see Savvy Victory open at 40s on Thursday, and the remaining 33s and 28s looks very fair each way, four places.
I took a big swing at him at a massive price at Goodwood last time and I thought he ran very well to finish a six-length eighth of 18.
Down 2lb and back to a track on which he has run two of his better efforts, this 6yo is no forlorn hope here and a bet at the prevailing prices.
He travelled a lot more kindly than he had done previously of late, at Goodwood, and I’d be keen for Colin Keane to ride him more prominently from stall four here.
The stable have had a poor season but they have had a recent winner and a few others have run well in defeat, too. His best form has been on a decent surface but rain wouldn’t personally worry me for him (Timeform have him down as winning on heavy earlier in his career).
He has been trimmed into 25s best as at 5.45am on Friday morning.
This field held up pretty well at the overnight stage, with 27 becoming 14, so luck will be required in this 7f+ handicap.
It’s not a race that appeals to me but last year’s winner Two Tempting is back on the same mark as when winning snugly here in May (he is two from two at the track).
Granted that is because he has been running moderately, and he was drawn one when winning here in early summer, against a trickier trap 10 slot here.
It’s a trappy enough race, easily avoided.
For now at least.
Things may look clearer on Saturday morning, though….
Array is a NR as of 9.36am on Friday. He has been coughing – being drawn 12 of 14 at Chester can do that to a horse.
Perfect Part is a NR as at 7.11am with an abscess. It must have been the worry of being drawn 14 of 14 which brought that on.
We lost four at the overnight stage, including Zanthos and Wild Desert (Do Bronxs and Lost Signal were the others), and that has seen Publish harden from [6/4] in the ante-post market to evens in the day-of-race line (evens as of 5.45am on Friday morning, last night’s 11/10 having being taken).
That isn’t a big move in the circumstances, and maybe it just goes to show how defensively these ante-post markets are priced up.
I totally get that he heads the market, given the connections and the course form, but nothing he has shown in his two starts to date entitles him to be that short here.
Of course, he can win, and win well, as we are dealing with a Kingman colt having just his third outing, but the rest are similarly unexposed.
I accept that A Bit Of Spirit and Humidity have shown their hands a little more, but as a result they probably bring the best form and time credentials to the party, with the former marginally leading the way at the moment.
And then we have impressive Beverley winner He’s Walim and the similarly once-raced scorer Pacific Avenue (preferred in this race to his stablemate Wild Desert, who he beat on debut, by Charlie Appleby) to factor in.
I won’t be having a bet in the race but I’d be inclined to lay Publish and have the field running for me if pushed.
You probably won’t be able to lay him at evens on the exchange, though
But we will see.
In fact, you definitely won’t as he is a NR.
Back on Saturday morning.
GOING – Round: Soft; Sprint: Soft
Going stick: 5.0, Saturday 8am (no change from Friday morning)
Saturday morning course update: 0.5mm rain in light shower Tuesday. 1.2mm rain Wednesday. 0.5mm rain in light shower Thursday. 18mm rain in total Friday – dry since 7pm. Saturday dry and bright until rain arrives from the west late afternoon.
Rails: Rail out up to 5 yards from 1m to WP Friday. Inner configuration Saturday.
Stalls: Sprint Course – Far Side (4 yards in) Remainder – Inside
Watering details : Irrigation 7.5mm Saturday. 3-5mm selective watering Tuesday on all quicker areas to even up – mainly latter half of back straight. No further watering planned.
Weather: 3.1mm Saturday (from 3pm)
GOING: Good to firm, good in places
Going Stick : 7.0, Saturday 8.30am
Saturday morning course update: 1mm of rain on Tuesday 2mm of rain on Thursday Sat – 22°/12° mainly cloudy, chance of showers from late afternoon
Stalls: Inside all races
Watering details : 4mm applied on Wednesday night after rain failed to arrive; 2mm applied on Friday night to maintain the going
Weather: 2.5mm Saturday (from 4pm)
GOING: Good, good to firm in places
Going Stick : 7.5, Saturday 6.30am
Saturday morning course update: Dry over the last 24 hours. Today forecast for showers from mid afternoon with highs of 18’C and 17mph Southerly winds.
Stalls: 1m2f – Outside Remainder – Inside
Watering details : None given
Weather: 2.8mm Saturday (from 1pm)
None
1.30pm Beverley: Dawn Of Liberation (drawn 10), Spioradalta (3), Desert Shadow (2), Glistening Nights (8)
1.50pm Sandown: Headmaster (8), Yokkell (5). Worood (2)
2.05pm Beverley: Regional (3), Habooba (6), Star Of Lady M (2)
2.25pm Sandown: Spiritual (8), Bright Thunder (10), Fair Point (7), American Gal (12), Blue Bolt (11)
2.40pm Chester: Allonsy (2) – becomes sole pace angle after Too Soon and Tashkhan have come out
3pm Sandown: Grey Cuban (10), Dangerman (5)
3.15pm Chester: Al Shabab Storm (3), The Waco Kid (6), Yanifer (8), Sir Paul Ramsey (2)
3.35pm Sandown: A Bit Of Spirit (1), He’s Walim (2), Humidity (3), Looka (7)
Good: Julie Camacho, William Haggas, Mark Walford, Declan Carroll, Patrick Neville, Clive Cox, Tom Clover, Ralph Beckett, Adrian Keatley, Brian Meehan, John and Thady Gosden, Adrian Wintle (very good – another winner on Thursday), Ed Walker (11-1 winner on Thursday), Charlie Appleby, Kevin Philippart De Foy, Jack Channon, Hamad Al Jehani (small sample), David Menuisier, Robert Cowell
Fair: Tim Easterby, Ruth Carr, Richard Fahey, Saeed bin Suroor, John Mackie, Ed Bethell, Mick Appleby, Paul Midgley, David O’Meara, Terry Kent, Andrew Balding (edging good), George Scott, Roger Varian, Gary and Josh Moore, Marco Botti, Richard Hannon, Hugo Palmer (winners on Friday), Kaine and Wood (small sample; no winners). Jonathan Portman, George Boughey, James Tate, Jamie Osborne, Ollie Sangster, David Loughnane, Eve Johnson Houghton, Michael Dods, Karl Burke, Charles Hills, Sean Woods, Alan King (9-1 winner on Thursday), Charlie Johnston
Moderate: Brian Ellison, Jane Chapple-Hyam, James Ferguson (8-11 winner on Friday evening), Harry Eustace, Jack Morland (much-needed 12-1 winner on Friday)
Don’t know: Gary Hanmer, Harriet Bethell
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