Saturday Racing Cheat Sheet: Best bets for Sandown Eclipse and Haydock

• Saturday Racing Cheat Sheet for Sandown and Haydock

• Get our tipsters' best bets and ambassador insight

• Tips from Kevin Blake and Sam Turner plus Timeform

Timeform Superboost

Ombudsman was a very impressive winner of the Group 1 Prince of Wales Stakes at Royal Ascot last month and he's a strong favourite to win another Group 1, the Coral Eclipse Stakes at Sandown, today. 

However, the Betfair Sportsbook have super-boosted his price to win today's race to 7/42.75. To take advantage of this super-boosted price, just click on the odds in the below bet banner to go direly to the pre-loaded betslip.

*Please Note: This Superboost is provided by the Betfair Sportsbook and not by any of our writers or tipsters.

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Saturday horse racing tips and insight

13:50 Sandown - Kerdos fancied to outsprint rivals

3 (5)

Kerdos (Ire)

• J: Christophe Soumillon
• T: Clive Cox
• F:

"Eclipse day at Sandown kicks off with the Group 3 Charge over 5f and there are sound reasons for thinking Kerdos retains all the ability he showed when winning last season's Temple Stakes at Haydock.

"Clive Cox's five-year-old was only seventh of eight on his comeback at York over 6f, but he ran a fine race when dropped back to this trip in the King Charles III at Royal Ascot last time, finishing fifth to American Affair, and the metrics tell us he was better than the bare result that day, too.

"In my role as a Timeform handicapper, I have to factor in the effect of the draw in sprint races where the field race in two or more groups and we use data-based metrics to assess that rather than just pure guesswork.

"In the case of the King Charles III, a small group raced on the far side, and we've assessed them as being inconvenienced to the tune of around 6lb compared to the bigger group that made up the first four in the race.

"Kerdos was first home in that small group and would almost certainly have played a hand in the finish had he raced with the bigger group. With that in mind, he looks to have been a little underestimated by the market here and I'd have him a clear favourite."

14:05, Haydock - Sam Turner:  Valiancy to show his quality

8 (9)

Valiancy (Ire)

• J: Harry Davies
• T: William Haggas
• F:

"In a race of well-bred and lightly-raced stayers, you are never quite sure what quality is lurking under the radar and hopefully, that will be the case with Valiancy who has certainly been learning on the job this season.

"Easy to back and green on debut at Newbury, the Cracksman gelding left that effort behind when stepped up to a mile-and-a-half here at the end of May, chasing home Pole Star who reopposes here after looking one paced over this trip behind Many Men at Doncaster.

"I felt the selection was a good deal wiser at Hamilton on his latest start, appearing like the Haydock experience had improved him mentally and physically as he shed his maiden tag at very short odds in winning a race that was admittedly low in quality.   

"There will be more demanded of the Newmarket raider here, but his dam is a half-sister to the two mile winner Lismore so this trip should be ideal and his cuurent mark looks at the lower end of what he can achieve given his connections and pedigree."

14:25, Sandown - Mark Milligan:  Greek the Order of the day

6 (9)

Greek Order

• J: Ryan Moore
• T: Michael Bell
• F:

"Similar sentiments apply to Greek Order in the following 1m handicap, and he makes plenty of appeal with Ryan Moore in the saddle. This one showed plenty of ability when trained by Harry & Roger Charlton in 2022/23 before being transferred to Bill Mott for a spell in the USA.

"He didn't cut much ice over there but has since joined Michael Bell and showed he retains all his ability and enthusiasm for the game when finishing fourth in the Hunt Cup on his stable debut.

"Along with the highly progressive winner, Greek Order raced stand side and they were both well clear of the rest of that group. As with Kerdos, his effort can certainly be upgraded.

"Ryan Moore knows the horse well too, having ridden him four times when he was trained by the Charltons, and the selection holds a fitness edge over main market rival Treasure Time."

15:00, Sandown - Alan Dudman: Back Blue to Bolt to victory

2 (3)

Blue Bolt (Ire)

• J: C. T. Keane
• T: Andrew Balding
• F:

"It's time for a step up in class for Andrew Balding's progressive filly Blue Bolt who can start Saturday's double with some icing and sprinkles in the 15:00 Listed contest over 1m.

"She coasted along to win at Windsor over Saturday's trip in May on just her second start and looked a filly with more nous for the experience of her debut at Southwell. She was barely given a hard race, making the running to win easily by over four lengths from the front with the field behind strung out like arranged lancers.

"Despite some early pace in the race, it was all controlled from the front with a race finishing speed of 108%. The third has subsequently boosted the form with a victory."

15:15, Haydock - Sam Turner:  Stressfree intrigues each-way at 6/17.00

2 (9)

Stressfree (Fr)

• J: Daniel Tudhope
• T: David O'Meara
• F:

The enhanced place odds on offer make Stressfree an intriguing proposition for the Old Newton Cup, especially as rider Danny Tudhope has only finished outside of the first four once in eight starts aboard the selection.

That blip came on very fast ground at Royal Ascot last time when the David O'Meara-trained five-year-old was beaten 11 lengths in the Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes.

This assignment should be a good deal more suitable for Stressfree who is back to the scene of his sole win this term, achieved at the end of May, a performance which was a career best in 23 Flat starts.   

15:35, Sandown - Kevin Blake: Back Delacroix to bounce back in Eclipse

4 (3)

Delacroix (Ire)

• J: Ryan Moore
• T: Aidan O'Brien, Ireland
• F:

"The run of the race is likely to have a significant bearing on the conclusion, as if the race pans out as outlined above, one can sure that Ryan Moore will seek to give himself the greatest positional advantage that he can from the front. This will mean setting a pace that maximises his chance which almost certainly means looking to go steady. 

"This will make it difficult for Ruling Court and particularly Ombudsman. The later was seen to wonderful effect when ridden with great patience off an overly-strong pace in the Prince Of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot. This race comes quite soon after that big effort and with it being likely to represent a totally different tempo of contest, he doesn't make much appeal at his short price.

"In contrast, Delacroix showed himself to be very capable of the quickening off a slow pace in his Derby trials earlier this season. Everything about his mechanics suggested that he was unlikely to thrive in the Derby, but the interference he suffered early on in that race really did hamper any chance he had to show his best. That run couldn't be more forgivable.

"This trip and setup will be much more to his liking and it wouldn't at all surprise to see him produce a career-best effort to win."

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