On the first Saturday of the new year ITV will be at Sandown for their Veterans’ Chase Day and at Wincanton with seven races to be shown live across the two venues.
- 1:30 Wincanton: Bet £10 Get £40 With BetMGM Handicap Chase – Silver Thorn @ 5/1
- 1:50 Sandown: Unibet Middle Distance Veterans’ Handicap Chase – Triple Trade @ 7/2
- 2:05 Wincanton: Gamble Responsibly At BetMGM Handicap Hurdle – Western Soldier @ 8/1
- 2:25 Sandown: Unibet Mares’ Hurdle – Sunset Marquesa @ 13/2
- 2:40 Wincanton: Play Golden Goals At BetMGM Handicap Hurdle – Got A Dream @ 5/2
- 3:05 Sandown: Unibet Veterans’ Handicap Chase – Annsam @ 7/1
- 3:35 Sandown: Read Nicky Henderson’s Unibet Blog Handicap Hurdle – Nardaran @ 8/1
Paul Nicholls has the favourite in the opener, a 3m1f handicap chase at Wincanton, in Wicked Thoughts who won carrying top weight in a Taunton Handicap at the end of November. We are opting for Emma Lavelle’s Silver Thorn who looked impressive when running out a 13 length winner at Doncaster last month.
In Sandown’s Middle Distance Veterans’ Handicap Chase, Dan Skelton’s Jet Plane heads the betting but is also saddled with 12st so we’re selecting the consistent Triple Trade for Joe Tizzard down the weights.
A 1m7f handicap hurdle follows before the Listed Unibet Mares’ Hurdle at Sandown over two and a half miles. Six are set to line up with the odds suggesting this is between Jubilee Alpha for Paul Nicholls and Nurse Susan for Dan Skleton.
Nurse Susan finished over 7 lengths ahead of Jubilee Alpha when winning a mares’ handicap at Cheltenham in mid-December, but they are weighted to be much closer here. Our pick goes to Joe Tizzard’s Sunset Marquesa who is a course and distance winner and may prove better value at the likely odds.
Nicky Martin’s Got A Dream is looking to land a third successive victory in the 2m5½f handicap hurdle at Wincanton ahead of Sandown’s big race of the day the £100k Unibet Veterans’ Handicap Chase. Runners must be ten or older as of the first of January so plenty is known about the nine horses lining up.
Gustavian for Anthony Honeyball was a wide margin winner of the Badger Beers Handicap Chase at Wincanton and is the joint-favourite at the time of writing with Dan Skelton’s Le Milos who won Newbury’s Coral Gold Cup back in 2022. We’ll be taking a punt on Evan Williams’ Annsam who looked back to his best when securing a 9½ length win at Ludlow last time out.
The ITV cameras will remain at Sandown for the final live race of the day, a handicap hurdle over 2m.