Sport

Nick Luck’s blog: Strike a tune in the Sandown feature

3 years ago

| BY News Team

It’s been a stellar season but the Jump’s finale is upon us at Sandown and Nick Luck has run his eye over the card and thrown in a couple on the Flat from Haydock and Leicester.

Read on for Nick’s thoughts on six Saturday races.

Sandown

DOCTOR PARNASSUS can take advantage of a smart piece of placing to win the TV opener at 13/2 at Sandown on Saturday (1.50pm). I thought he ran with huge credit in a strong looking Triumph Hurdle (form franked since), and he should be more than up to tackling his elders with his weight allowance.

MISTER FISHER can bounce back at 7/4 in the Oaksey Chase (2.25pm). He appears a shade inconsistent, but a small field on decent ground normally sees him produce big numbers, and he’s actually not a bad price to beat three horses who don’t have their ideal set-up.

NUBE NEGRA at 6/4 can take the Celebration Chase (3.00pm). My instinct here is that – at his best – he is just a better, faster horse than Greaneteen and Sceau Royal. Conditions here are perfect for him to produce that sort of optimum performance and he is much better after a longish break.

MUSICAL SLAVE is the answer at 15/2 to this weekend’s feature (3.32pm). Unlike the market principals, he is still open to a fair bit of progression off his current mark, and seemed a different ballgame in cheekpieces last time, when thrashing a good yardstick at Haydock. He is fully effective at this track and can improve for the step up in trip.

Haydock

OH THIS IS US is worth a little each way money at 16/1 in the Haydock feature (2.05pm). He is tumbling down the weights, but you don’t have to go back too far to see him winning a Group race. This is his trip, and nobody gets a tune out of him quite like Tom Marquand. He ran a perfectly respectable race at Newbury last weekend and meets few progressive rivals of that ilk here.