Racing tips: Upton Road has the form to hammer them at Sandown

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Blue Shark's winning spree came to an end yesterday at Exeter. He was ridden to get the trip, and though it seems like he didn't get the trip, he probably did as he was plugging away at the finish to get fourth.

The winner did it remarkably easily and won with plenty to spare. He probably did the run of the race, getting an uncontested lead of around 10 lengths, but you can't take away from the performance he put in, winning eased down.

Sandown 1:15 – Spirit D'Aunou 11/8 (2pt)

Gary Moore's horse, SPIRIT D'AUNOU is the market favourite for this Juvenile Class 3 handicap hurdle, and I think it's hard to question why he is at the top of the market.

Juvenile races are often tricky, as it's hard to weigh up the form and they often find a lot of improvement through the season as they mature, but this race doesn't look great. A lot of the horses in the field have raced against each other or have collateral form, so it's easier to weigh up than a usual 4yo race. For me, Spirit D'Aunou looks the best in this race by quite a distance, based on what we've from him so far.

This horse has two races from his three starts, with his latest run 64 days ago being his most impressive of those three. From that performance I got the feeling that he will need further in time, but 2m on soft ground on a testing track might be what he needs, now he enters handicaps. Sandown is currently described as heavy ground, and I think this race will be perfect for him. It wouldn't surprise me to see him off the bridle before a few of these, but when they hit the rising ground he should be staying on in strong fashion. He is a great jumper, which isn't something you can normally say with confidence with inexperienced juveniles, but he should rate better than his opposition today.

Sandown 1:50 – Cuthbert Dibble 3/1 (1pt)

The more I look at this race, the more I think it's not that competitive. I really do like the chances of CUTHBERT DIBBLE, but from the looks of it, so do many others, as he has been backed into favourite.

I can see why he is fancied to do well as he has won on soft ground, won over 2m 4f and looks like a really nice staying chaser for the future. Obviously, this isn't a chase race, but he glides through soft ground like it is good-to-firm, and in a race where many of the others won't handle the conditions as well as him, he is a huge player.

He has form tied in with Twinjets who I also think has a very good chance in this, but over this trip, I think Cuthbert Dibble can reverse the form from when Twinjets beat him at Leicester when Cuthbert Dibble missed the last hurdle. His jumping isn't great, so will have to be on it today if he wants to win, but a mark of 125 looks well within reach and I'm hoping Sam Twiston-Davies doesn't have him towards the rear of the field as it might be tough work to make up the ground, especially knowing his jumping can be a tad iffy.

Sandown 2:25 – Playful Saint 4/1 (1pt)

I've tipped up PLAYFUL SAINT twice this season, with the first time being a NR in a big pot Cheltenham handicap, the other resulting in a big length win at Leicester.

I thought this horse had plenty of ability when running a sneaky seasonal reappearance at Chepstow behind some nice horses. He was never really asked serious questions that day and it was definitely a pipe opener for the season. He then finished as runner-up behind Grade 1 winner, Love Envoi over today's C&D, before eventually winning for the third time in his lightly raced career at Leicester when looking well ahead of his handicap mark, smashing some decent handicappers in the process.

He has gone up 7lbs for that win but hasn't been seen since December. We all know how good Dan Skelton is at targetting horses for races, and he seems to do extremely well with his 2m hurdlers as we've seen with the county hurdle wins over the past few years at Cheltenham among other noticeable wins. This has been the plan for some time for this horse, as it would've for many others, but he is a horse who runs well when fresh, shown by winning on stable debut after spending 1099 days off the track! he'll be ready for this, will love the ground and handles the track, so there are plenty of positives to take.

Sandown 4:10 – Upton Road 9/1 (1pt ew)

I think people are overlooking the good form that UPTON ROAD has been showing in his recent two defeats, and I think his prices offers some great value for this race.

His second placed effort at Exeter has been franked by the third and fourth horse, both winning since and the winner has run well in defeat on his next two runs. The main piece of form I like the look of is from his most recent race at Hereford when I tipped up the winner that day, Honneur D'Ajonc. The winner hasn't raced since but the 3rd has since won by 15L and Bill Baxter, who was the 5/2F for the Hereford race, and was in the midst of running a nice race before tumbling, has won since in a Class 3 race at Kelso recording an RPR of 136, with the front two pulling well-clear, which is always a good sign.

Today Upton Road tries 3m. He has raced over 3m before when being pulled-up at Carlisle, but I don't think that was due to not staying the trip, with other issues probably being the reason. He clearly does stay 3m as he has won a PTP race, which saw him beat Movethechains (was a faller, but wasn't going to win) and that horse is much shorter in today's market but has to concede weight to the selection. He jumps well for the most part and I think he is great ew value.

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