Stonegate impresses at Sandown Park and a few more Sandown Stories

It's been another fun weekend for National Hunt fans, and with the November Handicap being run up at Doncaster we really are clear of the flat and can plough on full stream ahead with the Jumps game, after all the big Paddy Power meeting at Cheltenham is only a few days away now! This weekend was a bit lower key that the previous weekend however we still saw some good action, for example former Champion Hurdler Rock on Ruby was out at Wincanton and we had some cracking stuff over in Ireland on Sunday with a beautiful display of jumping shown by Gilgamboa in the beginner chase probably the highlight. However I'm going to fully focus on the action from Sandown Park for this week's blog mainly because I made the trip to the lovely Esher circuit and had a top time of it (not on the betting front sadly!)

Runners going past the winning post on a lap of Sandown Park

The going was pretty testing at Sandown, and combined with the stiff uphill finish that the track has made for pretty tough conditions for the horses and riders alike; the conditions that the concluding bumper were run in were nothing short of atrocious with rain lashing down and the course almost in darkness! However the performance of Stonegate in the closing contest was one of the shining lights on the day, a really impressive debut from Gary Moore's brother to Megastar, but more on that later.

The card started with a 12 race maiden finally getting off the mark, with Little Boy Boru fairly storming home under Micheal Nolan for trainer Suzy Smith. Nolan is a great jockey to have on board in these conditional jockey events as he is an experienced pilot now and is certainly a great help to his horse.

Next up was a 3 runner Novices Chase with the market headed by Paul Nicholls Irish Saint, impressive over hurdles last season and now trying his hand at the chasing game. His rivals in this field, Chris Pea Green and Gone too Far, didn't have the class of Irish Saint over hurdles but did have the benefit of prior chasing experience so the question was whether that experience would prove a leveller or not. Well not in the case of Gone too Far who fell at the first, but Chris Pea Green did briefly look like having the odds on favourite in trouble at one point. However coming over the last Irish Saint really asserted and pulled well clear in impressive fashion, impressing in such a manner that saw him cut into 16/1 for the Arkle at the Cheltenham Festival in March. I actually thought that Irish Saint looked quite small before and backed his rivals yesterday, however as soon as they raced off I was impressed with his fencing, the way he jumped definitely belied his experience and he was really impressive over the tough Railway fences, obstacles that have claimed many an experienced jumper in the past. It will be interesting to see where he goes next and how his jumping holds up when he has a few more rivals in the field than just a solo horse for company! Chris Pea Green went down admirably in defeat and there are surely lower grade races to be won with this genuine horse.

The Moore family managed to go one better in the 3rd race on the card as Baron Alco really looked the part on his hurdling debut taking the Juvenile Hurdle by 8 lengths despite a mistake at the last. He is a really inexperienced horse, only visiting the racecourse once before yesterday, so will definitely improve a tonne for this run.

The 4th race on the card had me interested in two horses; Loose Chips and Bally Legend. Although neither could finish in the frame yesterday as Sound Investment provided Paul Nicholls with his 2nd winner on the card, I'be still be keen on both going into the future especially as the handicapped should relent a bit on the pair. I heard Charlie Longsdon, trainer of Loose Chips, discuss how he hoped that his charge would be dropped to a mark of 135 to allow him to contest slightly lower grade handicaps. It was thought that the trip was a bit too sharp and the opposition a bit too hot meaning Loose Chips was always going a bit to far. Back up in trip next time out he is of interest, even more so if he can get lowered to a mark of 135. Similarly Bally Legend was never happy at this lesser trip and he really needs at least 3 miles now. However he is a wonderfully genuine and game horse and is another to note next time out off a lower mark and back up in trip. Two for the tracker possibly from this contest.

Horses coming into the un-saddling enclosure.

I'd also take The Brok Again into my tracker after his 3rd place finis in the 5th race; He looked a beautiful specimen in the paddock before the race and in going down to Exitas, a horse bringing up the hat-trick, definitely did himself no disgrace on his British debut. Exitas has really gone on an impressive roll early season for Phil Middleton and is now proven on good and soft ground leaving his trainer with a few options, mark dependant, over where he goes next. However The Brok Again, with much improvement expected with this experience under his belt, is the one to take from the race for me.

I was gutted in the 3.40 as one of my strongest fancies on the card, Lookslikerainted ran a stinker and was pulled up long before the race got going as a contest. He jumped so well last time out in victory that I was certain he would love the test of Sandown, however his technique absolutely went to pot and never looked like being competitive over the 3 mile contest eventually won in impressive manner by Le Reve, a 21 length winner for Lucy Wadham and Dougie Costello. Heavily Punted favourite Loch Ba also disappointed massively, joining my fancy in being pulled up but actually running an even worse race! The going was getting really testing by this point, conditions Le Reve absolutely loves and he certainly made hay yesterday.

It was all down to the lucky last for me now as without doubt my biggest fancy Stonegate ran here. I heard Gary Moore give this one a real positive mention in a stable tour of his yard earlier this week; a full brother to the very smart Megastar running in the bumper won by said brother 5 years ago; surely Moore had a smart one on his hands here. I didn't back the horse despite his early prices of 5/1 being available, and was regretting this once the opening show went up. 2/1 was the general price available and there had definitely been a course whisper or two for Stonegate all afternoon but I took the price all the same, I didn't have much choice now! The runners went out in absolutely atrocious conditions for this one, driving rain and near darkness welcomed them down at the start line, however Stonegate made light of the conditions and absolutely bolted up, easy as you like, a really impressive winner.

Conditions before the closing bumper, could have done with a floodlight or two!

Trainer Gary Moore has said that he may keep Stonegate for the flat or run him in another bumper as despite the impressive nature of his victory yesterday he is still a baby (despite his size...this horse is MASSIVE!!!) and has plenty of time on his side. I'm sure we will be hearing plenty more of this talented performer in the future.

That's it from Sandown and from this blog though folks but fear not; We've got a belting week to look forward too over jumps with the Paddy Power meeting coming up next weekend at Cheltenham. Before that Champagne Fever and Sizing Europe are set to clash at Clonmel next Thursday and Shutthefrontdoor makes his reappearance at Carlisle tomorrow. No doubt about it the jumps season is really getting going and these are exiting times for all jumps fans!

Thanks for reading!

AB