The Tingle Creek Festival continues tomorrow at Sandown Park where two group one races head a day of fantastic racing action.
The Henry VIII Novices Chase is the first of the two big races before it’s the turn of the Tingle Creek Chase where Altior comes up against three other top quality horses for the £150,000 prize.
Our horse racing expert runs through the best bets for both races.
Lalor looks to follow up after Cheltenham win
The first big race tomorrow at Sandown at the Festival is the Henry VIII Novices Chase.
Lalor is the overwhelming favourite for this contest and rightly so after a fine win on her chasing debut at Cheltenham last month.
She will come up against Diakali who looks the main danger having won three novice chases as a nine-year-old while Paul Nicholls runs Dynamite Dollars, who was second to Lalor at Cheltenham.
Colin Tizzard’s Pingshou also ran in the same race and goes again, while Chris Gordon’s Highway One O One is also in the field along with the is only one Irish-trained runner in the field in the shape of Henry de Bromhead’s Omua.
Lalor may not want the ground too heavy and that is the only concern ahead of the race, however, I feel she will still come up trumps at 5/6 with Grosvenorsport.com.
Altior the one to beat in Tingle Creek
You could make a case for all four runners in the race, but it will take a lot to beat Altior.
Nicky Henderson’s horse has won almost all before him – passing the finishing post first 16 times in his 18 career runs to date – a run which stretches back to April 2015 where he was beaten in a Punchestown bumper.
Altior loves the track with three wins at Sandown, but the softening of the ground with the recent rain gives some of his rivals hope.
Willie Mullins’ runner Un de Sceaux will love the soft ground and is a real danger and has form here having won the race two years ago when getting the better of Sire De Grugy.
Sceau Royal is a very smart six-year-old and started the campaign with a win last month at Cheltenham in the Shloer Chase, while Saint Calvados will have also benefitted from a grade 3 win at Naas, and doing so in impressive style.
While many will make a case for Altior, I firmly believe there could be an upset of sorts and will be backing Un de Sceaux at 7/2 with Grosvenorsport.com.
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