7.20pm Sandown Tips & Betting Preview 04/08/2016

Only five runners have been declared for the Class 3 handicap on Sandown’s Thursday card but it’s still a warm race and our betting tips have identified a good-value selection. Read our race preview for the full lowdown.

IN SUMMARY: Frontiersman, Godolphin’s twice-raced son of star mare Ouija Board, has almost unlimited potential to progress from his comfortable Newbury maiden success and is an obvious one to be interested in. Meanwhile, the two other last-time-out winners, Shahbar and Proctor, also make plenty of appeal. However, there could be some value in FOUR ON EIGHT, whose profile is not as sexy at first glance but is not yet fully exposed. Luca Cumani’s colt shaped as though in need of a stiffer stamina test when fourth over 1m on his seasonal debut and may not have been suited by soft ground when third over 1m2f back there last time, so it’s quite possible he can reveal some improvement here.

1 Frontiersman – Out of top-class mare Ouija Board, who has already produced Derby winner Australia; placed on debut in June, despite showing his inexperience, before gaining pushed-out success at Newbury (1m2f, good to firm) last month; could easily have much more to offer.

2 Shahbar – Initially very disappointing this season but responded very well to first-time blinkers when eased-down winner at Yarmouth (1m1f, good to firm) in late June; been raised 7lb but might use that success as a springboard if the headgear continues to have a positive effect.

3 Wave Reviews – Took five attempts to win a maiden; seemingly galvanised by first-time cheekpieces when doing so, at Salisbury (1m2f, soft) in June, but ran poorly when upped to 1m4f for last month’s handicap debut at Ascot, and has a point to prove after that.

4 Proctor – Displayed significant improvement when scoring by over 4l over C&D (good) on his handicap debut three weeks ago; predictably been hiked up the weights but is out of a Listed winner and the potential for further progress is obvious.

5 Four On Eight – Won his maiden at Windsor (8.3f, good) in September and has reached the frame in all three subsequent handicaps, the last twice at Newmarket this season (1m/1m2f); not yet fully exposed and can’t be ignored.

myracing Forecast Prices: 11/10 Frontiersman, 7/2 Proctor, 5/1 Shahbar, 6/1 Four On Eight, 10/1 Wave Reviews