Sandown Tips: Tom Collins has three selections for Friday's flat card

Flat racing returns to Sandown on Friday, one day before the Esher track plays host to the jumps season finale. There aren't many better tracks in the UK to watch good racing throughout the summer and Classic Trials day is sure to produce a handful of future star performers. 

Our tipster Tom Collins, who showed a healthy profit at Newmarket's Craven meeting last week after selecting two winners from five picks, is back with three plays on Friday's card.

1.20 Sandown, 5f handicap

Gone are the days of needing either stall one or two to win on the straight five-furlong course at Sandown. In fact, the inside draws seemed to be a slight hindrance last season with the ‘golden highway’ instead moving to the centre of the track.

We are yet to see whether that’s the case this year, but a middle draw is preferable at this stage and, with that in mind, Korker is the horse to beat in the opening sprint handicap. 

The Tom Dascombe-trained three-year-old, who is drawn in stall five and will likely be the last placed into the gates due to his quirks, performed to a high level during an excellent juvenile campaign. Three victories and two runner-up finishes from eight starts saw him end the season with a mark of 92 and there could be plenty more to come from this sharp gelding.

His victories at Carlisle and Haydock were worth marking up given he raced away from the track bias on each occasion, while he was unlucky not to end the year on a high at York. Korker travelled best that day before succumbing to a fresher rival and, given he was quick to come to his best last season, he is expected to make his mark on his seasonal reappearance.

Selection: Korker @ 5.5

1.50 Sandown, 1m Esher Cup

This three-year-old handicap hasn’t lived up to the hype in recent years with Atty Persse (2017) and What About Carlo (2014), both of whom subsequently struggled to make their mark at Group level, ranking among the best winners in the last decade. 

However, there’s some quality and plenty of depth in this season’s renewal and the market is currently favouring turf debutant Blue Trail, who represents the in-form Charlie Appleby and William Buick team, and Find, a son of the great Frankel. The latter has stronger credentials out of the pair given his forward-racing style and greater turf experience, but he would be my second choice in the race behind Al Marmar.

Andrew Balding rarely asks too much from his inexperienced horses and the decision to send this Al Shaqab-owned colt to Qatar for the Group 2 Al Rayyan Mile sparked my interest. Despite receiving a hefty bump at the start and encountering numerous traffic problems, he still hit the line in a creditable fourth.

That experience could prove vital for Al Marmar, who was extremely impressive when he broke his maiden at Lingfield in January and remains open to improvement on turf after just three runs. He will prove tough to hold if he sits close to the pace.

Selection: Al Marmar @ 7.2

4.40 Sandown, 1m2f handicap

If Giavellotto was trained by John and Thady Gosden or William Haggas, I’m sure he would be an even-money shot in the Sandown finale. A sizeable son of Mastercraftsman, Giavellotto has shaped like a potential Group performer in two all-weather runs to date and now gets a chance to prove himself on turf.

He was completely underestimated in the market on debut at Kempton in December and impressed with a strong late surge to deny Wild Crusade, who has won his two subsequent starts and is now rated 88. 

Connections decided to keep him to novice company on his second outing rather than shooting for the stars and Giavellotto justified that decision by putting up a professional display at Newcastle. He drew clear with each and every stride over this trip and appears leniently treated off an opening mark of 88. Providing he takes to turf and is ridden up with the leaders, it’s hard to see him being beaten.

Selection: Giavellotto @ 3

Recommended bets

Korker (1.20 Sandown) @ 5.5
Al Marmar (1.50 Sandown) @ 7.2
Giavellotto (4.40 Sandown) @ 3