Sandown
1.50pm
Poetry
She has been done no favours by the draw, being housed 10 of 10, and she has plenty to find on the book, too. But she was a progressive juvenile, finishing a fair seventh in the Cornwallis, and you would expect her to put her reappearance run in France over 6f on heavy ground behind her. But she clearly faces a very stiff task. Mind you, if they go too fast up front, as they can do here, then it wouldn’t be the greatest surprise if she picked up some place pieces late on, as conditions should suit.
2.25pm
Lush Life
Another wide draw in 14, so she will certainly need luck. But I am not too bothered about the draw to be honest, as she was never going to be ridden forward. We were hoping that she would book her Royal Ascot ticket at Newcastle last time but she just never fired there. Maybe it was the long journey up to Newcastle, or possibly the quick turnaround from her previous win here. We know she is a lot better than that anyway, as we saw when she won a strong handicap over course and distance that has worked out well, and I think she is weighted to be very competitive off just a 3lb higher mark here. Given luck in running, she should go well.
3.35pm
Danceteria
He impressively came up the ranks last season, from a lowly starting point, and he has continued the progression this term. He won a Listed race in France first-time-up but I wouldn’t take the form of his subsequent third to Regal Reality in the Brigadier Gerard here literally, as he had an interrupted preparation going into the race and wasn’t at his best there. I was very impressed with him in winning his Group 3 at Longchamp last time. He was a lot sharper and more alert than he had been here and he showed a very good turn of foot to win off a steady pace. We are under no illusions as to the task facing him here – you’d probably take fourth now – but he is improving and the ground should be fine. Sandown always produce nice ground and I don’t expect it to ride that quick. We do like this horse, for all he has a mammoth task on against Enable and co.
