Race To Watch / Timeform / 09 December 2009 / Leave a comment Free £25 Bet

Timeform reflect on a race which featured an exciting finish at Sandown last Saturday.

There was a pulsating finish to this two-and-a-half mile event, with the French-trained Doctor Pat finishing powerfully to head the Paul Nicholls-trained favourite Rivaliste right on the line. The race looks one to take a high view of, with the third-placed finisher Latanier also worth following.

The Francois Doumen-trained Doctor Pat posted a career-best effort over fences, on only his third outing over the larger obstacles, producing a fairly useful effort in the process. The five-year-old son of Definite Article looks open to further improvement over fences, and having proven himself on a soft surface, looks likely to prove very competitive over the next couple of months.

The ex-French-trained Rivaliste was unable to make it two wins from two starts since joining Paul Nicholls, but still showed improved form on only his second start over fences. The four-year-old made a winning debut over the larger obstacles at Newbury only a week previously and again travelled strongly, looking the winner for most of the straight. There could be even more to come from Rivaliste over fences next time.

The Venetia Williams-trained Latanier finished three lengths behind the runner-up and was another to show improved form over fences. In fact, the six-year-old did particularly well to finish so close, having been none too fluent at a couple of fences. With this only his third outing over fences, there could still be more to come from Latanier

Tags: Doctor Pat, horseracing betting odds, horseracing betting tips, Rivaliste, Sandown races