The final weekend before the Cheltenham Festival inevitably falls towards the low-key end of the Saturday racing spectrum. With the stars in the game limbering up for Prestbury Park, Graded class contests are conspicuous by their absence on the British and Irish cards. That said, the ITV Racing menu still offers a compelling afternoon of action for armchair racing fans.
The Lincoln Trial Handicap from Wolverhampton is a sure sign that the 2026 Flat campaign will soon go under starter’s orders, while the pick of the jumping action comes from Sandown. Topping the bill at the Esher venue is the historic Imperial Cup Handicap.
£100,000 Bonus Up for Grabs
First run in 1907, this 2m contest offers £100,000 in total prize money. If that still isn’t enough to tempt connections of Cheltenham-bound runners, the winner will grab a £100,000 bonus if they go on to win any event at the 2026 Cheltenham Festival.
To win two competitive handicaps in the space of a week is no easy task, but three runners have completed the double and bagged the £100,000 bonus. Olympian (1993) followed up in the Coral Cup, Blowing Wind (1998) bagged the County Hurdle, and Gaspara (2007) won the Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle. The common thread running through those three runners is the Pipe family – Martin Pipe trained Olympian and Blowing Wind, while his son, David, trained Gaspara.
22 Go to Post in 2026
David Pipe is not represented in 2026, but plenty of other trainers are. The final declarations on Thursday morning saw a maximum field of 22 confirmed, headed by a horse who scored by the small matter of 33 lengths last time out.
Mondo Man Ready to Show his Class
Formerly based in France with Pia and Joakim Brandt, Mondo Man showed a high level of ability on the flat. While winning only once, he finished fifth in the 2024 edition of the Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club and filled the same position behind Calandagan in the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Joining the yard of Gary and Josh Moore in January 2025, the Mondialiste gelding rated an exciting addition to the hurdling ranks. While not managing to win in his debut season over obstacles, he posted promising efforts to finish second to Lulamba at Ascot and third in the Grade 2 Adonis Hurdle at Kempton.
Returning for the 2025/26 campaign, he filled the runner-up spot behind the highly regarded Mossy Fen Road before finishing a slightly disappointing fourth on handicap debut at Ascot. Then came that wide margin win in a maiden hurdle at Plumpton. Sent off as the 1/7f, he was entitled to win as he did, but given his flat ability, he may yet improve beyond a rating of 123. At a general price of 11/4, he is the clear favourite for this assignment, ahead of a tilt at the County Hurdle.
Eric Bids to Go One Better
Next in the market is the horse who came close to landing this prize in 2025. Hailing from the yard of Jonjo & A J O’Neill, Wreckless Eric flew home to go down by just ½l to the 2024 winner Go Dante.
The suspicion is that Wreckless Eric may have won with a clear passage that day, but he hasn’t been in anything like the same form since. Rounding off 2024/25 with a 27-length loss at Aintree, he is zero from three in 2025/26, with those three defeats coming by a combined 88 lengths. On the plus side, he is now down to a mark of 124, which is 3lb lower than when going so close 12 months ago. If successful, Wreckless Eric will also go bonus hunting in the County Hurdle.
Dante Goes for Hat-trick
The Olly Murphy-trained Go Dante became the fourth dual winner of the Imperial Cup when successfully defending his crown in 2025, joining Secret Service (1949, 1950), High Point (1952, 1953), and Precious Boy (1991, 1994). This year, he bids to break new ground as the first three-time winner of the race.
Having posted narrow victories off 129 in 2024 and 127 in 2025, his current rating of 132 may demand a career-best effort. However, that is only 2lb higher than when scoring over the track and trip in December – a win which took his Sandown record to three wins from as many starts. Unlike Mondo Man and Wreckless Eric, this race is the only immediate target for Go Dante, who, as in previous years, does not hold an entry at the Cheltenham Festival.
Is Mondo Man finally ready to convert his flat class to the National Hunt sphere? Will a return to Sandown bring the best out of Wreckless Eric? Or can Go Dante claim a famous hat-trick? We will find out at at 2:27pm on Saturday.