Horse Racing Tips: Chapple-Hyam miler can have the last laugh at Sandown

Ripon, 15.07 - Back Simba's Pride @ 7/42.75

Race fans are set for a treat on Thursday evening with Sandown staging a cracking card (more of this please) and Simba's Pride might get the day off to a winning start with success in this Class 5 sprint.

Being situated in stall 10 could be a nice advantage for the prominent racing son of Dream Ahead who was only just touched off under these conditions last time and has been left on the same mark of just 63.

A drop to six furlongs looks to have helped Simba's Pride find his optimum form this term - he was a game winner at Hamilton on his handicap debut earlier this month - and I liked the way he battled back and hit the line well last time despite being headed deep inside the final furlong.

Hopefully, he can gain compensation for a team that have struck with a number of their sprinters in the past few days.

Ripon, 15.40 - Back Spioradalta @ 11/26.50

It must be highly frustrating for connections these days that they can be beaten nearly eight lengths, posting a performance on merit, yet they receive no respite from the handicapper.

That is the same assessor that is quick to raise a horse 5lbs for winning a head as he did in the case of Spioradalta when the gelding did this column a favour back in April.

That success took the selection's record at the Garden racecourse to three wins from seven starts and the grit and determination he displayed in the closing stages to overhaul Spoken Truth, subsequently a runner-up in a Zetland Gold Cup, was further evidence of his will to win.

Hopefully, that desire will again be on show today at his favourite venue as Mark Walford's six-year-old bids to put behind him a forseeable Chester defeat, but gained no letup from the assessor.

Sandown, 20.20 - Back The Joker each-way @ 6/17.00

I was fortunate to be at a sun-kissed Epsom on Tuesday morning to see Balzac put through his paces prior to a tilt at the Derby at huge prices on Saturday week.

Placed at the track already this season, the son of Japan glided around the idiosynchratic contours of the historic venue, handling Tattenham Corner with ease before lengthening down the straight.

Make no mistake, it will take a near miracle for him to win the main event on the first Saturday in June, but with odds about a top six or top eight place likely to be on offer, he could be a candidate for a bet in those markets.

His trainer Jane Chapple-Hyam has her Newmarket string in good order at present and The Joker is unlikely to be anywhere near the price of his stablemate to win the finale on Brigadier Gerard night.

The selection has been front-running over a mile-and-a-quarter of late and has produced two big efforts without appearing to have the requisite stamina to fight off the closers late on.

One of those closers, Lost Boys, went on to win the prestigious London Gold Cup on his next start so The Joker probably faced a thankless task and the return to a mile might be the catalyst for another big performance.

Now read Katie Midwinter's latest horse racing tips here