Sandown Saturday Tips – CopyBet

It’s been a while since we last saw SADDADD, but trainer Roger Varian has seemingly been waiting for a bit of ease underfoot and looks to have found a good opportunity for his talented three-year-old to win again.

The son of Pinatubo is bred to be useful, being closely related to smart Group 3 winner Almaqam, and has shown a good level of form.

His debut win has been boosted by the runner-up, who has since bolted up in a conditions event and been placed in the UAE 2,000 Guineas, and he has improved for stepping up to a mile and quarter on his last two runs.

He shaped well when chasing home the well-regarded Gethin in a novice at Newbury before following up over that same course and distance when landing the London Gold Cup, which is usually a good formline to follow.

That race has received several boosts, with the third, fifth, sixth and seventh all winning since, and, with the ease underfoot expected to suit him well, he looks capable of defying a 6lb rise before going on to better things.

The closing handicap over five furlongs at Sandown represents a big drop in class for WOOLHAMPTON, who has come a long way down the weights since winning at Nottingham last October.

That success came on heavy ground, one of four victories on ground described as softer than good, but she has raced solely on a good surface or better this year, which likely doesn’t suit her as well.

She shaped much better than the distance beaten on the all-weather at Newcastle in June, as she was just beginning to stay on well when the early leader fell back into her path and her jockey had to snatch up and ease her down.

She has also had excuses in four starts since.

She was undone by poor draws on two visits to Ascot before being slowly away in the Sprint Series Final at Windsor and looking outpaced at York last time out - a speed-favouring track that doesn’t suit her style of racing.

She is now 8lb below her last winning mark and, while she’s never been to Sandown, a stiff five furlongs suits her well and getting back on an easier surface can see her take advantage of this easier contest.

The market for the Group 3 Atalanta Stakes is headed by Blue Bolt, who is the choice of Juddmonte’s retained jockey Colin Keane, but the owner’s other runner SKELLET looks underestimated.

Nothing really went to plan last year for Skellet, who was slow to come to hand, and she failed to justify favouritism on her return in a Group 3 at Epsom, but this big-framed filly has the physical scope to flourish as a four-year-old.

A Kingman half-sister to Group 1 winner Skitter Skatter, she was likely in need of the run after 262 days off the track in June, when she was too keen and looked unsuited by the course.

She had got back the winning thread when landing a Listed race at Sandown in September, getting the better of talented pair Checkandchallenge and Cash.

The recent rain looks to be a bonus, as her two starts on ground softer than good have yielded defeats by just a neck and a head in a pair of Group 3s, and she is expected to bounce back now returned to a track that saw her register her career-best Racing Post Rating.