Sailorman Plots Course for Sandown Triumph
Evening meetings at Sandown usually attract a big crowd and those visiting the course on Wednesday, can make their journey worthwhile by following the Mark Johnston trained Sailorman. This three-year-old Dubawi colt lines up for the Maureen Sturt And Children’s Trust Handicap at 7.40pm and has a major chance judged on recent efforts. He annihilated a small field at Chepstow on his penultimate outing, where he made all the running before coasting home to a five-length success over Woodcote Bay.
Clearly buoyed by that performance, the yard entered him for a decent handicap at Epsom, where he was far from disgraced in finishing runner-up to the well-handicapped Avertis. He finished well clear of the remainder, so the form is likely to be strong. He probably has plenty of scope for improvement too as he is still lightly raced. The stable continue to fire in the winners and he is sure to make a bold bid from the front. However, these tactics could play into the hands of the probable favourite, Kakitosi.
Trained by Andrew Balding, Kakitosi showed very little on his only appearance as a two-year-old, finishing down the field in a Newmarket maiden. However, it appears that this son of Pastoral Pursuits has thrived over the winter months. Having finished runner-up to Flambeau on his reappearance at Newbury, he got off the mark in a Lingfield maiden where he made all the running to beat City Ground by just under two lengths.
That was a good effort, though much better was to follow over this course and distance at the beginning of the month. Having raced a bit too keen early on, he showed real battling qualities to fend off the determined challenge of Mass Rally. He is six pounds higher for that run and whilst he has plenty of room for improvement, his stable are hardly setting the world alight at present and therefore could be vulnerable at these weights.
Ertikaan had always promised more than he delivered until his final outing, which came in a decent looking maiden at Doncaster. Leading early on, he quickened impressively a furlong from home, streaking away to score by six lengths from Self Employed. Trained by Michael Jarvis, he is making his handicap debut here and could go very well.
Richard Hannon has a strong hand in this event with two runners. Fleeting Echo is possibly the strongest of his contenders with stable jockey Ryan Moore preferring this one. This filly turned in a good effort on her penultimate outing when beating Cultured Pride by just under two lengths in a Goodwood handicap. On her final start, she pulled far too hard for her own good and failed to see out the trip when finishing down the field in a hot handicap at Newmarket. She needs to put that behind her to have any chance here.
The second of Hannon’s runners is Dubai Set, with Richard Hughes set to ride. This one rounded off last season on a high by winning a very strong nursery handicap at Doncaster. However, he has failed to build on that promise this season and it may be that he is a shade too high in the weights at present.
With Henry Candy’s runners doing particularly well at the moment, The Confessor has to merit some consideration. He lost his maiden tag on his seasonal reappearance at Salisbury, where he showed a good turn of foot to take up the running inside the final furlong and going on to score by a length from Blackdown Boy. That was only a maiden and possibly not a very good one at that, but he has room to improve and will surely have come on a fair bit for that run. This looks tough though and it is most likely that he will only be fighting for minor honours at best.
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