THE Jump Finale Day at Sandown will certainly live up to the title! The 2024 UK Jumps Trainers’ Championship has certainly generated a great deal of interest with Willie Mullins, who has nine runners on the card, looking almost certain to become the first Irish trainer to win this championship since the legendary Vincent O’Brien in 1954.
Dan Skelton is around £178,000 behind Willie Mullins in prize money and Dan, whose has five runners, has his best chance with Le Milos (nap) in the Gold Cup Handicap Chase, where I couldn’t exclude Sam Brown for an each way wager with Slipway the other selection. With Paul Nicholls in third place he has eleven runners on the card, which means we can look forward to a fascinating afternoon of racing.
The quality is right there in the Celebration Chase with Jonbon, trained by Unibet Ambassador Nicky Henderson, talking on El Fabiolo from the Willie Mullins team. Jonbon is my selection, and he can make it 3 from 3 at Sandown.
I’m looking forward to heading to Sandown for what is going to be a brilliant day.
Enjoy whether at Sandown or watching #athome on ITV Racing or Racing TV.
Cheers
The Wine Tipster
1:50 Sandown – Novices’ Championship Final Handicap Hurdle (2m)
Maasai Mara is in a race where four-year-olds have won two on the last three renewals has the best chance of the three of this age group appearing in the race.
Twice a winner on the Flat for the Gosdens last year, rated 87 after his defeat of Westerton at Ascot in May, he didn’t come cheap for current connections but he’s taken well to hurdles, jumping fluently to win at Catterick in February and losing nothing in defeat to a 130-rated rival at Hereford last time. The introduction of some headgear – he was in blinkers for both his wins on the Flat, and he now gets some cheekpieces to help him concentrate – makes him even more interesting.
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2:45 Haydock – trustatrader.com Handicap (7f)
Tacarib Bay for Unibet Ambassador Richard Hannon returns to the turf after five starts on the all-weather over the winter/spring, winner at Newcastle back in November but below that form since. However, has dropped to a workable mark as a result, his record at Haydock reads 112, two of those runs with plenty of cut in the ground, so conditions should be fine, and with a good pace assured, he can come with a late rattle to take this.
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3:00 Sandown – Celebration Chase Grade 1 (1m 7½f)
Jonbon is unbeaten at Sandown on three appearances and came right back to his best when winning the Melling Chase at Aintree last time out, and clearly is in great form at present. His main rival El Fabiolo jumping came under the microscope at Cheltenham and he was pulled up after the fifth after a bad blunder there. El Fabiolo could find Sandown a real challenge in getting the rhythm right over the railway fences, whilst Jonbon we know is so effective here and will cap another Grade 1 success.
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3:35 Sandown – Gold Cup Handicap Chase (3m 4f)
Le Milos (nap) is having his fourth start of the season and his first over fences during this campaign. Last time out he went off one of the favourites for the Pertemps Network Final at the Festival but never really looked like landing the odds in the soft ground, and after spending the season over the smaller obstacles, the switch back to fences here looks a smart move.
Le Milos is only 3lb higher than when taking the big handicap chase at Newbury in December 2022 in tremendous style on good ground. His last chase start was in the Grand National 2023 when he failed to stay, and the Aintree run took him some time to get over that performance. This looks like it has been his target, and he has ground conditions to suit, whilst Le Milos is 2 from 2 at Sandown.
Slipway is having his fourth start of the season and his twelfth jump race of his career. His form figures of 19P-901 certainly don’t suggest consistency, however his last start at Kempton in March was a real return to form as he beat the highly regarded Egbert by 4 lengths carrying 12st 2lbs and could have easily won by further quickening away. That success was over 3m, though Slipway has won over 3m 3½f in the Southern National and 3m 6½f at Perth so he will certainly handle this trip. It is worth noting that he was favourite for the Scottish Grand National in 2023. Slipway’s victories have all been on good to soft and he will need to here step up from Kempton, yet he could easily progress again.
Sam Brown is a remarkable 12-year-old who has been in the form of his career with the visor fitted this season. I was kicking myself at Aintree after not marking him up each way when he late rallying second to Cruz Control, having marked up Sam Brown the previous year at the Grand National meeting. He would be 4lbs higher in the weights if that latest performance could been applied. He must have strong each way claims.
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