Noble Storm perfectly drawn to cause upset in Sandown’s feature
IT WAS an ‘Irish Day’ at Epsom last Saturday when Sea The Stars ran away with the Derby and it’s Irish Day again at Sandown tomorrow when the Esher track celebrates everything the Emerald Isle has to offer. It promises to be a fantastic day out with plenty of other attractions as well as the horses – food, dancing, music and much more. Shane Filan from Westlife will be there and if you hang around after racing you can listen to U2UK who are a decent U2 tribute act.
The feature race on the card is the Scurry Stakes run over five furlongs at 3.25pm and the most appropriate winner on Irish Day would be the Irish-trained Rain Delayed. However, Ger Lyons’ runner has been doing his winning on a much easier surface and isn’t drawn particularly well.
My original fancy for the race was Jeremy Noseda’s Adorn, but the filly has been drawn in trap 1 and I simply cannot back anything coming out of such a wide stall. The daughter of Kyllachy will probably appreciate the drop back to five furlongs, but I think she may be isolated down the centre of the track and the contest may be over by the time she gets going.
The one I’m most interested in is NOBLE STORM, drawn in stall 10 right against the far side rail. He showed blistering pace to make all in a decent conditions race at Beverley last time and he will be very hard to catch. His principal dangers (and market leaders) have been handed impossible tasks from the centre of the track and as long as our selection doesn’t miss the break, I expect him to make all.
Elsewhere on Sandown’s card, I like the look of John Gosden’s BRAVE ECHO off top weight in the 2.20pm contest. He stayed on very well over course and distance last time to finish a close third and looks like a typical improver from his strong stable.
The big race of the day at York is the Reg Griffin Memorial Trophy Heritage Handicap at 3.10pm and the one I like is the Clive Cox-trained MASTER OF DISGUISE. He landed a real touch at Sandown at the end of April, is held in very high regard by his handler and could still be well ahead of the handicapper. He will also appreciate the rain-softened ground and it’s very interesting that connections have decided to make the trip up to York rather than an alternative engagement at Newbury or Royal Ascot next week. I also can’t help but have a few quid on Tim Easterby’s FAVOURITE GIRL each-way. She looks dangerously well-handicapped and it’s always worth backing the stable at their favourite track.
Don’t miss out on the Punter next week – we’ll be producing copy every day from Royal Ascot and we’re also now online at www.cityam.com/the-punter.
With the meeting just days away have a few quid on MIA’S BOY in the Royal Hunt Cup on Wednesday. He’s been running really well over seven furlongs and is one of the only genuine group-class performers in the line-up. In my eyes, he’s been crying out for this step up in trip and looks excellent each-way value at 20/1.
POINTERS…
BRAVE ECHO (2.20pm Sandown, tomorrow)
MASTER OF DISGUISE (3.10pm York, tomorrow)
FAVOURITE GIRL e/w (3.10pm York, tomorrow)
NOBLE STORM e/w (3.25pm Sandown, tomorrow)
MIA’S BOY e/w (Wednesday, Royal Ascot)