3.35pm Sandown Tips & Betting Preview 07/01/2017

Eight renewals of this two mile handicap hurdle and not one winning favourite so far, but as things stand this looks to be a fascinating renewal with the possible reappearance of some long absent horses with a bit to prove but plenty of potential for bigger and better contests.  Trainer Oliver Sherwood won the last two renewals with Rayvin Black but is without an entry in 2017, so we will start our race preview with the long absent Nicky Henderson five year old Discours D’Un Roi (4/1) who was last seen back in October 2015 winning at Strasbourg. That form is particularly hard to assess, though interestingly the runner-up is now with Paul Nicholls but is yet to race in this country, but we can say that Nicky does as well as any trainer with the numerous French imports constantly arriving on our shores. Any animal with two wins from three starts over hurdles is hard to knock, we only wish we were privy to the home gallops at Seven Barrows as only Nicky himself plus connections will know who he has been working with, and whether that means he is well handicapped off a rating of 134 for his handicap debut in this country.

Sussex trainer Gary Moore has been extremely patient with the lightly raced Krugermac (4/1) who won on his hurdling bow at Ascot after arriving from Ireland, and was then well beaten at Lingfield over further on heavy ground at odds-on in December 2015. The now six-year-old son of the classy Kalanisi has not been seen since for one reason or another, and it will take a supreme training performance having him race fit for a contest like this after just over a year off the track, but he may well have been underestimated by the handicapper and thus deserves his place in our race preview. Admittedly the form of his last race is not working out as well as connections would have hoped, but he did look one to keep an eye on when winning at Ascot, though two miles may be his minimum trip and a watching brief may be the most sensible course of action this afternoon.

John Reel (6/1)has been backed in the early markets for trainer David Evans and although he hasn’t been seen over hurdles since December 2013, he has  been kept pretty busy on the flat. He oiwnt lak ofr fitness but does lack in experience and is hard to make a case for just yet but is well worth watching for future reference.

Profit is King and in the past two weeks trainer Alan King leads the statistics on that score in this race and he has entered Chocala (13/2) here with Wayne Hutchinson all set to ride. So far this season the seven year old has finished second twice from two starts after returning from three races on the flat after a long layoff, and although beaten nine lengths last time out, that was over further than this two miles and it will be interesting to see how he gets on over a fast run two miles as seems likely here. Left on the same rating here the fact that they send him handicapping when he can still run in a maiden hurdle may tell its own story, and although no good thing, with the stable in form it will be interesting to see if he is backed or not in the early markets.

Back to our colleague Nigel Twiston-Davies next, and he has Robinshill (14/1) in here as the six-year-old looks to follow up his recent win at Ffos Las off a three pounds higher mark. Truth is he was all out that day to hold on by three quarters of a length, but he likes to make the running and can prove extremely difficult to pass when he wants to, and with Sam Twiston Davies already booked to ride it looks more than likely he will run on Saturday which in turn may make life more difficult for others who like to front run as well.