Sandown plays host to the final day of the British jumps season on Saturday, when prizes for champion trainer, jockey and conditional will all be handed out to those who top the standings.
The trainers’ title is a close-fought battle between Dan Skelton and Willie Mullins, and with plenty of prize-money up for grabs, both are heavily represented across the seven-race card.
The feature of the day is the Grade 1 Celebration Chase, which Jonbon looks to win for the third year in a row, while the Oaksey Chase, Select Hurdle and Whitbread Gold Cup make for a fantastic undercard.
Our expert, Harry Wilson, has a trio of selections on the card including one in the second, one in the Grade 2 hurdle, and another in the competitive handicap chase.
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Sandown tips
1.50 Sandown – Bad
Dan Skelton saddles his first runner in the Josh Gifford Novices’ Handicap Chase (1.50), in which his hat-trick seeker Riskintheground is likely to prove popular.
He’s landed Skelton valuable prize-money at Ayr and Cheltenham in the last two weeks and is just 3lb higher than last time, but a better option looks to be Ben Pauling’s Bad.
He was proving somewhat frustrating in Britain since coming over from France, finishing in the first three in seven of his 11 starts without winning for Pauling, including three defeats by a length or less.
That has changed since the blinkers have gone on, though, as he won back-to-back races at Kempton in February and March before pulling up when tried over the National fences in the Topham at Aintree last time.
Not all horses take to that course and fences, so it’s best to put a line through that, and his defeat of well-handicapped course specialist Flegmatik on his penultimate start suggests this 5lb higher mark shouldn’t be beyond him, while he’ll likely benefit from returning to conventional fences and going right-handed.
3.00 Sandown – Lucky Place
Willie Mullins won the Select Hurdle (3.00) last year and looks for back-to-back wins in the contest with the unexposed Kitzbuhel, but he may have to play second fiddle to Nicky Henderson’s Lucky Place.
Despite only securing one victory in five novice starts last season, Lucky Place displayed potential by finishing second to Golden Ace and Gidleigh Park, while his performance in the Coral Cup at the Cheltenham Festival, where he placed fourth, came at a time when Henderson’s yard was under a cloud.
His three-quarter-length defeat to Golden Ace, who was in receipt of 14lb, reads even better now considering she’s won the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle and Champion Hurdle since.
Lucky Place returned from an eight-month break to win the Ascot Hurdle in November, which was a career-best performance, despite being officially rated the lowest of the five runners and the ground being very quick.
The six-year-old then showed he may be suitable for staying trips when proving stronger than subsequent Cleeve Hurdle winner Gowel Road on the run to the line in the Relkeel in January, but he was too keen to do himself justice in the Stayers’ Hurdle at the festival when last seen in March.
He carries a penalty here now dropping in class, but this is far less competitive and this trip on this stiff circuit should be perfect for him to bounce back.
4.10 Sandown – Minella Cocooner
The presence of Grand National third Grangeclare West has forced 11 of the 20 runners in the Whitbread Gold Cup (4.10) out of the weights, including Skelton’s title contender Hoe Joly Smoke, who is racing off a mark 13lb higher than he should be.
That makes last year’s winner Minella Cocooner even more interesting, as he gets a racing weight of just 11st 1lb, compared to the 11st 9lb he carried in 2024, despite officially being rated 4lb higher – he’d be carrying top weight if it wasn’t for his stablemate.
Minella Cocooner ran a fantastic race in the Grand National when last seen, jumping the last about a length off the one-two, Nick Rockett and I Am Maximus, but just not seeing out the trip as strong as a few of the others and eventually finishing seventh, despite having had his saddle slip as they jumped off.
He gets to run off 2lb lower than that day, and given he’s proven over the course and distance, likes quicker ground and is reunited with last year’s winning jockey Danny Mullins, he could prove hard to stop.
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