With Cheltenham immediately on the horizon next week, I’m sure many tipsters will be spending their time this weekend looking at next week’s entries but there are a couple of interesting races at Sandown tomorrow which it could pay to look at.
The EBF Final is always one of my favourite races of the year as the form of this race works out so well as a rule. This year looks no different and I’m going to have two darts at the board. FIRE FLYER immediately jumped off the page at me when he was awarded a mark of 127 and this race would have been the plan given how quickly he ran back the last day. His bumper form would suggest he is better than his current mark and despite top weight I do fancy him to run a big race here. Paul Nicholls has a fine record in this race and I would give a mention to his other runner at a bigger price but the selection looks to have a few extra pound in hand.
DARTMOOR PIRATE is bred to appreciate this longer trip and I will be disappointed if he doesn’t prove to be better than a mark of 121. Ben Godfrey takes off a valuable 3lb which takes his mark to 118 and that looks a very fair mark. It is a mark that has been awarded to him for his runs over 2 miles but if he improves like I think he will do for this step up in trip then 16/1 is a huge price.
I’m interested in BASHERS REFLECTION in the Imperial Cup who looks a little too big at 25/1 given the improvement he has shown this season. Many will be put off his performance last time out where he got collared late on despite trading 1.01 in running but I’m hoping the drop back to 2 miles will mean that doesn’t happen again. He is a strong travelling type so the drop in trip shouldn’t be a problem in my view especially with the stiff finish here. This isn’t a vintage renewal and I don’t think there is anything hiding in there so I’m not afraid to put up an outsider.
Sandown 1.50 – Fire Flyer / Dartmoor Pirate
Sandown 2.25 – Bashers Reflection
