ITV Racing Tips: Crystal clear for Crystal Ocean at Sandown?
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A huge weekend of racing on ITV4 gets going this Friday witha quality-stacked, action-packed four-race card from Sandown.
Four-time pattern race winner Crystal Ocean is the star attractionin the Gordon Richards Stakes, while Beat The Bank, Sharja Bridge and Addeybbwill fight it out in an open-looking Group 2 Mile.
Ready for it all? Get your eye in with us and our ITV Racing Tips.
It’s difficult to see CrystalOcean getting beat in the Gordon Richards Stakes. Sir Michael Stoute’scharge showed himself to be a fine competitor in elite company last year as aone-time Group 2 winner and two-time Group 1 runner-up.
That’s difficult form to knock. Especially given thefive-year-old started off his fabulous campaign with victory in this very race12 months ago. That should bode well for our tip here, who is comfortably theone to beat.
Whether you’re having a punt or not, this race is a realtreat. There’s a case to be made for over half the eight-runner field, althoughit’s three-time Group 2 winner Beat TheBank who gets the nod from us.
The five-year-old landed a couple of top prizes last term,including the Summer Mile at Ascot and the Celebration Mile at GloriousGoodwood. He couldn’t quite cut it at Group 1 level but there’s no doubting hisability in this sphere.
Andrew Balding’s yard has been operating with a decent 18% strike-rate so far this season. His runner can take this against a field which is solid enough but lacks the proven quality of Beat The Bank.
There are plenty of promising types on show in thisClassic Trial. While Bangkok is a worthy favourite, we’re keen to take theDerby 40/1 shot on with John Gosden and Alfaatik.
The trainer has a fabulous record in this race havingsaddled three of the last five winners, including Cunco in 2017 and SevennaStar in 2018.
His main dart this time around overcame greenness to score over the distance at Chelmsford in December. He should be able to find more improvement here, with the addition of blinkers.
ITV RACING TIPS
1:50 Sandown – Reggae Runner
2:25 Sandown – Crystal Ocean (NAP)
3:00 Sandown – Alfaatik (Lively Longshot)
3:35 Sandown – Beat The Bank (NB)
View the latest Horse Racing odds.
All Odds and Markets correct as of date of publication
