Our form expert has two selections for Thursday evening's quality card at Sandown Park.
The Verdict: Thursday May 29
1pt win Coltrane in 7.05 Sandown at 11/2 (General)
1pt win Almaqam in 7.35 Sandown at 5/2 (General)
Almaqam to star under Murphy
Sandown hosts the Group 3 Star Sports Brigadier Gerard Stakes amongst an excellent evening meeting on Thursday and it’s a big night for Godolphin.
They’ve got three in the feature with Ombudsman for John & Thady Gosden ed by Charlie Appleby’s Military Order and Ancient Wisdom, while Trawlerman goes in the Henry II Stakes for the Gosdens and Appleby’s Opera Ballo bids for Heron Stakes glory.
Opera Ballo is one of the most interesting horses on the card and he looked to have more than a bit of star quality about him in two wins on the all-weather at Kempton earlier this year.
He pulled way too hard to do himself justice in the Craven Stakes and it’s no surprise to see Appleby reach for the first-time hood, headgear he is 31 wins from 100 with first time up.
Opera Ballo’s sire, Ghaiyyath, hacked up in the hood first time and it would be no surprise to see him get back on track here with main market rival Bay City Roller having to concede him 5lb.
However, he has still got to prove himself on turf, so I’m happy enough to ignore the 9/4 for all that he has the potential to put these rivals to the sword.
Owner-mate Ombudsman is a warm order in the Brigadier Gerard after an unbeaten start to his career but he has a Group 3 penalty to concede and this is his first run for 263 days, so the winning sequence looks in danger.
I’d have Ed Walker’s ALMAQAM as favourite over him here, the four-year-old likely to benefit from this being a bigger field than is the norm with the likes of Bolster and Ancient Wisdom likely to make it a decent test at the trip.
He has the potential to be a very smart 1m2f horse under his ideal conditions and he shaped well off a steady pace here in the Gordon Richards Stakes last time, interference at a crucial point not helping his cause.
Oisin Murphy takes over in the saddle and this is the sort of spare he thrives on, for all that it could be a white-knuckle ride from the one stall. If he gets the breaks he could be too good for these rivals, just like he was at this meeting last year when running away with the Heron Stakes.
That was on softer ground and perhaps he would prefer a bit more juice in the conditions, but I think it’s more important he gets a good even gallop to chase and that looks likely in this 10-runner field.
The Verdict: Back ALMAQAM in the 7.35 Sandown
Coltrane a cracker in Henry II
There are no penalties for Trawlerman after his winless 2024 but the Group 3 Star Sports Henry II Stakes looks likely to become tactical and he looks a dicey odds-on favourite with that in mind.
He has proven vulnerable when making the running on his last few starts and he looks the most likely to go forward here in a race lacking in obvious early pace.
Burdett Road could go forward, but he’ll have to settle much better than he did the last time we saw him on the Flat and that’s not a given on his first start since the Champion Hurdle.
COLTRANE traded at 1.54 in-running in a slowly-run Sagaro Stakes last time, that man Murphy looking to have all bases covered only for Yashin to pounce in the Ascot straight.
Yashin improved for first-time everything (new trainer, wind surgery, tongue-tie) and he was best equipped to deal with an early dawdle as his middle-distance pace came to the fore.
Still, it wasn’t a bad reappearance run by any means from Coltrane, a strong stayer who does have the gears to cope with tactical affairs.
He’d had seven months off prior to Ascot and he usually feels the benefit of a run, so he looks in a good place here to lay it down to Trawlerman over a course-and-distance where he was a 10-length winner the only previous time he has tried it.
Andrew Balding took down a Godolphin hotpot in this race a few years ago with Dashing Willoughby for the same owners and I think Coltrane still has races like this in him, given he relaxes well and has a turn of foot.
The Verdict: Back COLTRANE in the 7.05 Sandown
Preview posted at 1525 BST on 28/05/25
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