Today's TV tips
Hanoverian Baron (3.10) missed the cut and a potential big payday when balloted out of the Ebor at York this week, but has been found a fine opportunity for some recompense at Sandown.
He proved an expensive loser when enduring a nightmare passage for the Old Newton Cup at Haydock on 3 July but showed his true colours when battling home at Ascot on 23 July and there is potentially still more left to come off a handicap mark that remains favourable.
Sandown 2.05: No trainer in Newmarket is in as good form as Michael Jarvis, whose Decorative is fancied to maintain her unbeaten record. She still has considerable untapped potential.
Chester 2.20: Should Luscivious manage to get to the front from the start he could prove tough to reel in around these tight bends. He is very fairly treated on turf compared to his all-weather mark.
Sandown 2.35: Native Khan was undeniably impressive on his racecourse debut at Newmarket's July meeting and is reported to have done well since. He has a good attitude and clearly sees out well this distance of seven furlongs.
Chester 2.50: Another to miss the cut for the Ebor Handicap, Red Cadeaux is expected to come on for his latest outing and build upon his considerable early-season promise. He enjoyed no luck in running at this track in May and that run is best forgotten.
Chester 3.25: Brae Hill was caught in the final stride over course and distance by Kyllachy Star last month but has an edge with the draw and can reverse placings on marginally better weight terms.
Sandown 3.45: Medici Time is in the form of his life and this stiff five furlongs should play to his strengths. He is drawn close enough to the favoured far rail.
Tip of the day
Bloodsweatandtears 4.40 Sandown Held in high regard at Will Knight's Sussex stable, Bloodsweatandtears showed evident inexperience despite winning at Yarmouth in July. Having travelled with considerable power, he was all over the place when asked to throw down his challenge and Shane Kelly did well to nurse him home in front. Considered a Group race performer in the making, he can only have learned from that run.
Horse sense
The lure of the Arlington Million takes Kieren Fallon across the Atlantic today, but it is only with some reluctance that he is not at Sandown Park to ride Seta (2.05). Seta has, for some time, been the apple of almost every Newmarket workwatcher's eye and her recent efforts on the gallops have been as good as anything she has done all year long. She has done particularly well physically in the last few months and must be fancied to maintain her recent run of success, even with the exciting Decorative in opposition.
Fallon would also have been aboard Native Khan (2.35) in the following contest, but steps aside for Eddie Ahern. Despite showing up well at home, Ed Dunlop's colt was expected to need the race on his debut at the July meeting but he ended up powering clear. He has done nothing but improve since and should go close to maintaining his unbeaten record.
In common with the majority of Clive Cox's team, Dansili Dancer (3.10) was below par earlier this season, but he has come on considerably in recent weeks at home and now looks attractively handicapped as he returns to action for the Lambourn trainer.
Peter Chapple-Hyam, who has recently lost the stable flagbearer Sayif to his Newmarket neighbour Sir Michael Stoute, may head to Deauville today to watch Crying Lightening run in a Group Three, but his Bouguereau (2.50) should not be written off at 33-1 at Chester. He was pulled up on his only start this season, but seems fine again now and is ticking away nicely on the gallops.
Seen and heard
Sariska's reluctance to leave the starting stalls in Thursday's Yorkshire Oaks might have taken her backers by surprise, but those closest to the filly might have been forgiven for thinking they had seen it all before. Gallops-watchers at Newmarket had seen Sariska whip round and look reluctant to go on to the Heath the week before, while the former Jockey Club public relations guru John Maxse - a regular work-rider for Sariska's trainer, Michael Bell - tweeted after the race: "Oh! She did the same on the gallops two weeks ago."
Another of British racing's peculiar anachronisms is set to fall by the wayside in the weeks ahead. At a recent meeting of the British Horseracing Authority's Racing Committee, it was confirmed that the use of the word "a distance" to signify any margin of more than 30 lengths is to be scrapped and replaced with the actual number of lengths. Also agreed was the switch of the Summit Junior Hurdle from Lingfield Park to Doncaster.
Click here for all the day's racecards, form, stats and results.
Click here for today's latest odds.
And post your racing-related comments below
