By Tony Calvin - 21 April 2026
I’m off for the first in a series of tests shortly (wrote this section on Wednesday), so I’ll quickly knock out some opening copy while I still have a pulse…
I’d say Friday’s racing is largely watch-not-bet fare, but I have got involved in a couple of races.
We lost six runners at the overnight stage in this Esher Cup; eight run (so beware each-way backers as it will be drying quickly on Friday once the watering stops and we may get NRs – see details of that watering below, as clerk Andrew Cooper has been very open as to how much he has been sticking on).
We have already lost a runner (see above), so none of the ITV races at Sandown have each way 1,2,3 betting.
The Dante entry Organise was the short-priced ante-post favourite (around 13/8) and he runs. It sounds like the Gosdens think they have a good one on their hands here and he certainly didn’t dismiss that notion when winning at Yarmouth recently, though he still looked raw (and maybe a touch temperamental?) there and this looks a hot Esher Cup.
At [7/4] best, he makes limited appeal in this line-up, however much reduced from the five-day stage.
He is now [11/8] after the NR.
These 3yo handicaps are exceptionally tricky to call at this time of the year but at least three of the eight have had a recent run; Organise, and fellow recent winners Laureate Crown and Nobody Knows.
Laureate Crown was quite a late confirmation for this race on Wednesday morning but he is actually 2lb well-in, as the handicapper has presumably re-assessed the merit of his narrow Wolverhampton win last month.
He initially went up 6lb for that but the 1/2-length runner-up ran a cracker in defeat at Newmarket last week, so Hugo Palmer’s charge has been upped another 2lb in future.
So I imagine their hand was forced to run here, to a certain extent, but he looks a fair enough price at an initial 12s (though that was quickly taken and he is now 9s tops – and now 8s after the NR).
Nobody Knows is closest to Organise in the betting at [7/2] and he is similarly unbeaten in two starts and he dusted off the 3yo cobwebs with a smooth win at Wolverhampton last month. As with every horse in here, he is all about potential.
Difficult to gauge potential.
Charlie Appleby runs his Look To The Stars in a first-time hood (I always look out for this trainer with any new headgear angle), after also having given the horse a wind op since we last saw him in the Zetland Stakes.
Headgear stats don’t get much better than Appleby’s 34 from 107 with a first-time hood – the horse is probably a bet alone on that information.
He is a definite player here and is trading at a tempting double figures, too – with Breathe Easy out, he now could get an uncontested lead if connections want it but they may not want to with the hood on – but all seven are factors here.
No bet for me. Too many unknowns.
FRIDAY MORNING BETTING UPDATE: Organise is now odds on at [5/6], with Nobody Knows out to 5s and set to get bigger. Nibbles for Laureate Crown and Look To The Stars into 7s – but early days.
Gordon Elliott’s Gringo D’Aubrelle is a NR as at 7.37am on Wednesday (going).
Eleven of the 29 at the five-day stage go here.
To be honest, I haven’t got a great deal of appetite for Perth’s pretty lowly 0-130 and 0-125 handicaps at the end of the season (and at the end of a three-day meeting where more watering is likely to come into play later in the week, too), but I’ll have a look.
This race is the 3m6f+ Highland National.
I’ve had a look.
Stratagem doesn’t look a bad small-stakes, each-way bet at a combination of [17/2] and four places. And a general 8s.
Trainer Mickey Bowen didn’t have a winner in February and March , but at least he has had a couple of winners earlier this month (albeit at a modest strike) – and he had a timely double on Thursday, too – and Stratagem appeared to relish the step up to 3m2f+ when winning by a wide margin at Sedgefield last time, even though that race rather fell apart and only two of the five finished.
The handicapper didn’t go mad though, raising him 6lb, and that Sedgefield win was not the first time he has shaped as if a marathon trip could suit, previously staying on well over 3m at Doncaster previously.
The ground at Perth is drying out, which will suit him as most of his best form has come on a decent surface.
FRIDAY MORNING BETTING UPDATE: El Granjero has overtaken Fever Dream with most firms at prices ranging from 7/2 to 9/2. Stratagem very weak out to 11s and three points bigger on the exchange – I have pressed up win-only and each-way. President Scottie is 6s from 10s yesterday.
,
No Almaqam, and five of the eight were confirmed in this Gordon Richards Stakes.
No Pride Of Arras or Fast Tracker either, so this Group 2 now lacks a bit of oomph.
However, Almeric is now the top dog in here and he is rated a lofty 117 and hails from a stable that has already had 52 winners in 2026.
I am not sure I agree with that rating – and he struggled when we last saw him in the Champion Stakes – but his Ayr defeat of King’s Gambit and Liberty Lane certainly makes him the one to beat here.
Devil’s Advocate could get the run of the race here though, and I’d definitely side with him over Almeric at the current prices (though of course this is no two-horse race with King Of Cities and Saddadd right in the mi).
He made a satisfactory return when second to the highly promising Gethin at Kempton earlier this month, when he didn’t race in his usual cheekpieces.
They are back on here and he could be hard to reel in here.
His Doncaster handicap success is not that far off Almeric’s best effort either, and he finished in front of that horse when they ran in the Champion Stakes at Ascot in October.
I was surprised to see him available at 4s in three places early on Wednesday afternoon, and I have backed him. He should be 3s tops here in my opinion, with all of his main three form rivals lacking a run.
The Dante fourth should love the (albeit watered) ground, too.
The 4s has reappeared on Thursday afternoon, followed by [9/2], then [5/1].
I’m pressing up at 6s currently.
FRIDAY MORNING BETTING UPDATE: Saddadd is into 7/2 from 5s. Everything else static bar my fancy Devil’s Advocate out to 5s (and 6s on Betfair to small sums) – again early days but I called the latter’s price wrong so far.
He is now 8s ffs.
In again. Too stubborn perhaps in the face of a massive drift.
Coumeenoole is a significant NR as at 9.28am on Thursday (coughing). They’ll be a significant Rule 4 here, as he was a 7/2 and 4s chance.
Twelve of the 24 go in this 3m2f+ handicap hurdle.
One small bet at Perth is enough for me, so I’ll probably give this a pass, though I must admit I wasn’t expecting the in-form Inferno Sacree to be as big as 16s , four places.
There is your bet if you want one, as he has improved since stepping up in trip and Nigel Hawke has his small string in very good form, having won with his last three runners, including one at 25s (and he is 5 from 15 in April).
Any 14s is fair enough, too.
Just as well as the 16s went just soon after the above went live.
FRIDAY MORNING BETTING UPDATE: Jupiter Des Mottes heads the betting at 10/3 ahead of Roaring Conquest and Jukebox Jury at 5s (both tight prices). Inferno Sacree is into 9s.
There is no confirmed front-runner in here, so I imagine the jockeys will he having an informal chat in the weighing room….and maybe lying.
Field Of Gold versus Zeus Olympios is on in the bet365 Mile.
Only six runners, but a humdinger.
The other runners are Cicero’s Gift, Opera Ballo, Dancing Gemini and Never so Brave – it is essentially a Group 1.
I couldn’t see any obvious pace (see pace maps below).
You have to remember Field Of Gold is actually getting 5lb from Cicero’s Gift and Opera Ballo, and 3lb from Zeus Olympios, due to the penalties only kicking in after August 31, 2025.
Field Of Gold hasn’t won since his stunning Royal Ascot success on June 17.
A lot of this is clearly going to come down on fitness, with Opera Ballo the only one of his six seen in public in 2026, and that was in January (it was a weak Group 1 at odds of 2/5).
Of course, Field Of Gold deserves to be favourite, and maybe shorter than [5/4] at these weights, but he did have an underwhelming end to his season after those Irish 2,000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes wins (and that Guineas defeat) and maybe he will be being tuned up for bigger pots down the line.
And, looking back at his early season form, maybe you can question whether he deserves his official mark of 125 (was 126).
This is one hot race too clearly, and it wouldn’t be too often you see a last time-out Group 1 winner being the [28/1] outsider of six.
The flashy Zeus Olympios is probably the most promising/exciting horse in training after what he did at three, having been unraced at two, and he simply looked sensational when beating Opera Ballo in the Joel Stakes.
I wouldn’t be laying him at [11/4] – available in four places as this race preview goes live – even if he has to give 3lb to Group 1 winners Never So Brave and Field Of Gold, and Dancing Gemini, an emphatic winner of this contest last season.
I hope he is as good as he looked last season, and even better, as the sport needs stars to hang its hat on in these troubled times.
And this one looks a very likely lad.
What a race. No need for a bet.
Let’s hope they don’t dawdle, and there is an opportunity for a jockey to take the initiative.
FRIDAY MORNING BETTING UPDATE: Field Of Gold into 10/11 – that’s about it on this market. Someone has just gone evens at 7.38am. You may get 3s about Zeus Olympios this morning.
Just seven of the 13 confirmed at the overnight stage for this Classic Trial, but the big guns are present (or perhaps the expected ones would be more accurate), led by Action.
True to his word, Aidan O’Brien runs Action, ahead of the others he had in the race at the five-day stage, and I am quite surprised to see the Royal Lodge third and Futurity runner-up as big as [6/4], as the 115-rated son of Frankel should blossom over this 1m2f trip, too.
Mind you, the clear form horse meets six unexposed and promising types here and a first-time tongue-tie obviously hints at a wind issue. And I doubt whether he will be fully revved up here.
He could even get bigger than [6/4].
You never know, though…well, not until around 3.30pm on Friday, anyway when the big money starts to hit the market.
You are always guessing with the readiness of Aidan O’Brien horses at this time of the year, especially when he has his eyes on bigger prizes down the line, and Swagman won this race as a very weak [9/2] chance last season.
It is not a race I would have a betting opinion in.
How could you really, with seven winners going at it, with six of those making their seasonal reappearances, and none of these have raced more than four times?
I’m sure plenty will, not I.
FRIDAY MORNING BETTING UPDATE: No changes yet . 6/4 Action plays 5/2 Wise Prince.
Round: Good (Going stick 6.0, Fri 9am)
Sprint: Good, good to firm in places (Going stick 6.4, Fri 9 7am)
Soil Moisture 43%
Rails: Sprint Course will be at full width. Round Course will be on outermost configuration on Back Straight and Bend, Home Straight full width – impact on Round Course distances to be confirmed.
Stalls: Sprint Course – Far Side Remainder – Inside
Friday course update: 1mm rain in April to date. Prolonged dry spell continues, with no sign of rain. Windy last few days and getting warmer by Friday, 20 degrees.
Watering: 7.5mm applied to Sprint Course on Monday. 7.5mm applied to Round Course on Tuesday – 5mm in Home Straight. No watering Wednesday. 2.5mm applied selectively in Back Straight Thursday morning.
Yr.no latest (6am Friday): Dry, sunny, 20 degrees
GOING: Good, good to soft in places
Going Stick 5.8, Friday, 8.30am
Rails: Rails at innermost position, distances as advertised.
Friday course update: Sunny day. 16C.
Watering: Wednesday: 4-5mm applied to the whole track apart from the shared bend down the back. Being finished this morning by 8:30am Thursday: 4-5mm applied to the whole track, being finished at 8:30am
Yr.no latest (6am Friday): Dry and bright, 17 degrees
Charlie Appleby, hood; Look To The Stars, 1.50pm; 34-107 since 2013 (impressive)
Breeze Of Wind, blinkers; Stuart Coltherd; 2.05pm; 1-17 since 2018
1.50pm Sandown (7 runners): Look To The Stars (prom – 8) – Breathe Easy is a NR
2.05pm Perth (12 runners): Stratagem, Upfordebate (prom) – Gringo D’Aubrelle is a NR
2.25pm Sandown (5 runners): Devil’s Advocate (3)
2.40pm Perth (13 runners): Inferno Sacree, Go To War, Jukebox Fury – Coumeenoole is a NR (coughing)
3pm Sandown (6 runners): No obvious pace
3.35pm Sandown (7 runners): Action (3), Oceans Four (prom – 6), Spyce (prom – 5), Al Zanati (prom – 2)
Good: Charlie Appleby, John and Thady Gosden, Karl Burke, Andrew Balding, Roger Varian, Nigel Hawke, Nicky Richards, Olly Murphy (double on Thursday, treble on Wednesday, to go with a brace on Tuesday), Dan Skelton
Fair: David Menuisier (fair/moderate), Michael Bell (fair/good), Hugo Palmer, Tom Dascombe (small sample), Richard Hughes, Charles Hills, Roger Teal, Aidan O’Brien, Alan King, Mickey Bowen (double on Thursday), Patrick Morris (last six runners placed), Russell and Scudamore (winners on Wednesday and Thursday)
Moderate: Charlie Pike , Brian Meehan (lot of big prices though), Cian Collins, Christian Williams, Stuart Coltherd, Patrick Neville Clive Boultbee-Brooks
Don’t know: Owen Burrows, Clare Ellam, Daragh Bourke, Ian Duncan
1.25pm Newbury – 13/2 West Wind Blows too big here I’d say Newbury were relieved…
2.2opm York – A tough punting Mission to undertake Now, this is exactly the kind…
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