Dave Massey is back for both weekend cards in Esher, starting with his huge Sandown Tips for this afternoon’s flat card. Read his exclusive preview every week with kwiff: The Home of Supercharged Betting.
Dave Massey’s Huge Sandown Tips (24/4/26)
It wasn’t long after Organise passed the post at Yarmouth that I got a text from a friend of mine that was at the track. “That looked some serious racehorse in the paddock and it’s destroyed that lot!” it read. Would have been nice to have known that BEFORE the contest, but to be fair at 8-15 I’d have left it alone anyway. So there we are, that’s easy isn’t it? Organise wins, well backed, we move on.
Sandown Tips: Laureate Crown (1:50)
Hang on though. Yes, he won well enough at Yarmouth but that form is untested and whilst the speed figure was solid, it wasn’t anything to get overly excited about. There’s a chance he simply gets overbet here and that opens it up for an each-way wager against him.
The one I like at the prices is Laureate Crown, who won on quick ground at Ascot on his debut at two and was highly tried in Group company after that. He might have found the ground against him on his final start of the season at Doncaster too, so never really got the chance to showcase his talents.
He has started his three year old season off well though, winning at Wolverhampton, coming with a strong late run to claim the prize and that despite it turning into something of a sprint for home, which wouldn’t have suited. This track promises to suit him even better, and a 6lb rise looks entirely fair, given the runner-up ran well in defeat at Newmarket last week. 9-1 and bigger looks very fair.
Sandown Tips: Devil’s Advocate (2:25)
The big question here is whether Almeric is as effective on quick ground – and it will be quick – as he is on slower, as his one poor run of last year came when the ground was on the fast side in the Champion Stakes at Ascot in October. It could be, of course, he was simply outclassed there and this lesser task will be much more in his wheelhouse, but nevertheless, it’s something to consider if you’re taking the shortish price about him.
With the cheekpieces back on, I think this gives William Buick and Devil’s Advocate (2.25) an excellent chance to set their own fractions and make all, as they did when successful at Doncaster last year, never an easy track to lead from start to finish at. It’s worth remembering that he did finish in front of Almeric in the aforementioned Champion Stakes, for all the pair were well beaten, so for Almeric to be 7-4 and Devils Advocate 4-1 seems to make little sense to me. He looks the value call.
Sandown Tips: Zeus Olympios (3:00)
If Field Of Gold is back to the sort of form that saw him win the Irish 2000 Guineas and St James Palace Stakes last year then he’s probably going to win this, but if he turns up and throws in another moderate effort, as he did in the second half of the season in the Sussex or QEII, then he probably isn’t.
It’s hard to put your finger on what exactly went wrong for him, but I’ll say this much; he didn’t impress the paddock-watchers for that Queen Elizabeth II at Ascot, he’d looked better earlier in the season, and so there are some questions for him to answer today.
Zeus Olympios (3.00) looked top-drawer when thrashing Opera Ballo at Newmarket in the Joel Stakes and whilst the latter has had a (winning) run this calendar year at Meydan, I don’t think Zeus Olympios is going to turn up here half-cooked, for all he’ll have bigger targets this season. We still don’t know how good Karl Burke’s 4yo could be this season, and the booking of Ryan Moore really does catch the eye. With Burke in such good form, take him to overturn Field Of Gold today.
Friday Tips: Forunedefortunata (Perth, 2.40)
Sandown isn’t the only show in town on Friday, with a couple of races from the final day of Perth’s Festival on terrestrial TV too, and at 20-1 and bigger I have to give Fortunedefortunata (2.40) that chance to show his third to Holokea at Haydock last week wasn’t a fluke.
A useful staying chaser for Gordon Elliott at his best, this is only his third start for new trainer Pat Morris and after a mid-race fall on his debut for him, he ran a cracker under a big weight to be third under a big weight (and at a monster price) just nine days ago. He does, of course, have a quick turnaround to overcome and that’s a concern, but not enough to put me off. He can go well under conditions that suit.
By Dave Massey
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