Today's Racing News: Stage set for Sangarius to star at Sandown in Brigadier Gerard

All systems go with six meetings to get our grubby paws into today.

Worcester and Limerick host the jumps action on either side of the water while Ripon, Haydock, Carlisle and Sandown set the stage for flat fanatics.

Oh, those Sandown nights

Sandown's six-race card meeting is where most of the excitement will be this evening, and they kick off with the 17:45 Play Coral "Racing-Super-Series" For Free Handicap in which a field of 12 go to post.

The opener is highly competitive, and that's the theme of the night with the 19:25 Brigadier Gerard Stakes the feature race of the meeting. The race will be run in memory of the recently passed Joe Mercer, who rode Brigadier Gerrard throughout his career.

Sangarius heads the market at Evens and will prove very tough to beat if coming on for his reappearance second behind Armory in the Group 2 Huxley Stakes at Chester, especially given the time figure was much quicker than Fox Tal who ran on the same card.

Sir Michael Stoute will bid for his 11th win in the race and teams up with Ryan Moore who has won six of the last ten and five for the trainer - they make a formidable pair - check the stat of the day.

Elsewhere on the card

Ocean Wind 6/5 is a firm favourite after chasing home Stradivarius last time and will look to confirm form with Nayef Road and boost his Ascot Gold Cup credentials in the 18:50 Coral Henry II Stakes.

Two highly competitive handicaps end the evening, and Royal runner Encourage looks the stand out horse in the 20:30 Coral "Supporting Prostate Cancer" Handicap.

Haydock soft/heavy - again

Never mind the Bermuda Triangle; those myth busters need to get down to Haydock and see why on earth this meeting seems to run on heavy ground all year long. It goes without saying but expect it to be hard work.

This afternoon plenty of unexposed horses take to the turf for the start of Haydock's three-day meeting, and they can provide future clues for racing down the line.

The day's feature race is the seven runner 16:30 Lowton Handicap over 5f in which course specialist Somewhere Secret will take on the unexposed Pretty Boy Floyd, who runs off a 7lb lower handicap mark than his Irish one.

Dudman's Betfair boosted 25/1 double at the ready

Al Dudman continues his search for a big priced winning double and has two selections from Sandown for tonight's action - Al's selections have been boosted to 25/1.

Read Dudmans double here.

Race of the day

We head to Ripon for the day's race, and our focus is the 15:05 Sky Sports Racing Sky 415 Handicap. This looks like a competitive race on paper, but the bookmakers may have underestimated one.

Jean Baptiste arrives on the back of a career-best effort in first time cheek-pieces at Newmarket and goes further up in trip today to 1m4f for the first time in his career. He saddles a 5lb penalty for his victory just five days ago, but trainer George Boughey cleverly negotiates with jockey Mark Crehan, who takes off 5lbs.

He has an upwardly mobile profile but was well held here by Benadalid on his start prior, and that form line ties in with another, and he is not a guaranteed stayer by any means.

Bollin Joan is relatively exposed over this trip, but she shaped as though she was ready to strike the last twice, and the handicapper has dropped her 3lbs. She got no run when returning at Doncaster and then did too much too soon in a hot handicap at York earlier this month.

Regular claiming jockey Ella McCain is swapped out for David Allan who has rode her for five of her nine career wins including twice at this venue.

Her record here at Ripon reads 2116, and she may not need to improve to win this. She gets my vote.

Pearl Beach is one of the more interesting runners in the field and drops back in trip and returns to the turf for the first time since July last year. Her profile is an attractive one, and she showed she could mix it at this level at Chelmsford on return.

She may lack the tactical speed for this undulating course; however, she is very much respected.

Rhys Williams struck with Warwick winner Wrekin at 15/4 yesterday and today sticks with the jumpers

Our daily tipster Rhys Williams struck gold at Warwick yesterday and is hoping for more of the same today at Worcester!

Read Rhys' column here.

Stat of the day

When Sir Michael Stoute and Ryan Moore combined at Sandown, they have a 28% strike rate - They combine with two runners - Sangarius 19:25 and Ransom 20:00.

Timeform in search for readies at Ripon

Timeform continue to bring us their three best bets of the day, this time from Ripon.

Read what the team has to say here.

Money Talk

Movers and shakers - who are the Betfair Sportsbook and Exchange customers backing today?

13:55 Ripon - Torshi 20/1 into 11/1
16:50 Limerick - Supreme Joy 80.079/1 into 5.04/1
19:05 Limerick - Tender Heart 25/1 into 9/1

Final Word

Classic Getaway was good at Tipperary yesterday and already has me glancing at the Cheltenham Festival ante-post markets - don't worry, any excuse to pull in a story related will be pounced on.

I'm off to Sandown tonight to try and earn a few quid, have a beer or nine and see a few faces. If you're there, say hello - unless you're a nutter, then don't.

Until tomorrow, be lucky.

Follow Daryl Carter on Twitter @DarylCarter7