Sandown tips for 19 August | Horse Racing

Horse Racing

Only two races interest me today as betting heats:

The 2.40 at Sandown is a sprint handicap which has cut up with non runners being declared. Italian Tom is the selection, a course and distance winner with a two from two strike rate at the course.

He has been running really well all season and last time he probably failed because of the extended trip. He is back down to the sprint trips and after a little 20 day break I expect him to be fresh for this race.

He has won on soft ground at this track so I don't think the ground is too much of an issue and I also think he has a superb draw to attack from. He is below his highest winning handicap mark and as a four year old I still think he has potential to improve a little more. Its not much of a race and at 4/1 I think he is the bet of the day.

The 3.50 looks a race which you need an unexposed horse and we have a couple of very interesting three year olds taking on their elders. Top Diktat is probably the three year old that is open to the most improvement and last time out he showed that he was finally coming to hand and looked like a racehorse at long last.

He won what looks to be a terrible race but I think it will be the starting point for a successful handicap career, and on this softer ground I think he is the one to be with. Dysios isn't as unexposed but is more reliable and could be the one to test him the most.

2.40 Italian Tom
3.50 Top Diktat (plus forecast with Dysios and Bloodsweatandtears)

 

This tip is for the 3.15 at Sandown today.

Ballymacoll seem to be having a distinctly ordinary year with their best results being Fiorente’s seconds in the King Edward and Gordon. They have had a two-year-old winner in Croquembouche but he doesn’t look to be one heading for pattern company. Their most interesting two-year-old out so far has been El Greco and his introductory second to Clare Island Bay looked to be reasonable form. He holds an entry for the Royal Lodge and could prove to be a good colt. to be frank, they need one!

Today they introduce a further two-year-old debutant in the shape of Debating Society. This Invincible Spirit colt is the sixth foal to get to the races out of the Caerleon mare Drama Class (grand-daughter of the Oaks and St Leger winner Sun Princess). Two of the four winners produced by this mare have been group class (Scottish Stage who finished second in the Irish Oaks and Ribblesdale and Eleonora Duse who won a Group 2 last year).

Both these fillies won as two-year-olds, which is a rarity for Ballymacoll two-year-olds.

Today Debating Society makes his debut in the 7f maiden at Sandown and will be ridden by Richard Mullen. Interestingly, Stoute also runs another colt in this maiden: Hartside, ridden by Jimmy Fortune. Now Fortune is the more established jockey and maybe you would expect him to be on the stable’s number one but Mullen is often used by Stoute to ride newcomers and has won on them in the past. Perhaps Hartside is the stable number one but gallops reports have been more complimentary about the Ballymacoll colt than Hartside. So, working to that theory, I will be making a small investment on Debating Society 3.15 Sandown.