Sandown

12.05pm

Paros

He came to us after winning at Dieppe in the summer, and we certainly like what we have seen of him at home. He obviously has to carry a 5lb penalty for that success but the form of that win has worked out well, and the rain earlier in the week should be no hardship to him. He jumps very well and we expect a good run.

12.40pm

Grand Mogul

This race has cut up badly but, as I have said before, we are one of the four in here, so we are not complaining.  He has a 6lb penalty for his win at Chepstow, but I think stepping him down from 2m5f to 2m will suit – he travelled well into the race at Cheltenham last time, and maybe his stamina just deserted him up the straight  – and this clearly looks a very winnable race for him.

1.15pm

Chasamax

We were scratching our heads after his Uttoxeter run but he has bounced back to run two crackers, and he only just lost out in a three-way photo at Cheltenham last time. He has gone up another 3lb, but a reproduction of that run should leave him on the premises. 

1.50pm

Tamaroc Du Mathan

We have a bit to prove in this lofty company, but the manner in which he won at Wincanton would have left you in little doubt that he deserves a crack at this level. His success there may have only come off a mark of 131 in handicap company, but he was ultra-impressive, travelling and jumping so well, and he is already a far better chaser than he was a hurdler. It is clearly a hot race, but my horse looks a very exciting prospect after what we saw last time.

2.25pm Tingle Creek 

Altior – NON RUNNER

NON RUNNER He has come a long way since winning his bumper on his debut in the summer of 2014, and let’s hope the fires are still burning in the winter of 2020.  All the indications at home suggest they are. I am sure you have seen the videos of him schooling at home, and the Newbury racecourse gallop he had with Epatante, and we like to think he comes here plenty straight enough.  Ideally, you may want as better ground as possible for him but we know he handles soft exceptionally well too, and he is five-from-five around here, including when beating Un De Sceaux in this race in the soft first time up two years ago. We fully respect Politologue after what he did at Cheltenham in March – a race we had to miss – and the up-and-comers like Rouge Vif and Greaneteen too, but the past tells us that they should probably be worrying more about him than we are about them. Let’s see how he gets on, though. NON RUNNER

3.35pm

Mister Coffey

He was very good at Newbury last season before pulling his chance away at Huntingdon, so we stuck a hood on him for his return here last month and hoped for the best. And, to be honest, we couldn’t have wished for much better. He was still a little keen, but the way in which he picked up and put the race to bed was very pleasing. He has predictably gone up 10lb for the win, but the runner-up was only just touched off at Haydock on Wednesday and we hope he is up to defying the rise, though he clearly meets a better class of opposition here. He is a good horse when it all goes to plan.