A Guide To The Weekend’s Racing 23/04/2015

Fancy watching some live racing this weekend? Make sure you don’t miss a trick with our guide to the best up-coming meetings of the next three days.

Friday

Tomorrow is the first day of Sandown‘s dual purpose festival, this initial celebration being dedicated to flat events. Both the Gordon Richards Stakes (14:00) and the Classic Trial (15:00) are Group Three races though the feature race of the day is the Group 2 bet365 Mile (14:30). Andrew Balding’s Here Come When, already a Group 2 winner, is expected to go off favourite in a field that also contains Goldophin’s hat-trick seeking Bow Creek and Joel Stakes winner Custom Cut.

The only other flat meeting in mainland Britain on Friday comes from Doncaster and whilst it is a vastly inferior meeting to that in Surrey, there could be an interesting 6f class three at 14:50. Charlie Appleby’s Wanting is the top weight in that handicap. In Ireland, the polytrack awaits those with their names on Dundalk‘s seven race flat card.

Alternatively, all of Chepstow, Perth and Plumpton are hosting jumps events in Wales, Scotland and England respectively whilst Ireland have such a meeting at Kilbeggan. Only Perth’s fixtures are taking place in the afternoon the other three being evening meetings.

Indeed it is that Scottish racecourse that offers the best quality of racing with a litany of class three hurdles and chases. At 16:20, 12 line up for the 3m 7f Highland National.

Saturday

Saturday’s only jumps meeting is being held at Sandown though what a meeting it’s sure to be. AP McCoy’s last meeting as a jockey, the Northern Irishman should have rides in all of the key races; the listed Oaksey Chase (14:35), the Grade One AP McCoy Celebration Chase (15:15) and the Grade Three bet365 Gold Cup (15:50). All three races, plus those preceding them will be shown live on Channel 4.

Lucy Wadham’s Le Reve is the current favourite for the bet365 Gold Cup though the trainer has expressed her concerns over the ground.

Away from the final day of the festival, all of Haydock, Leicester and Ripon have afternoon meetings on the flat. With a number of class two races between them, the overall standard of racing should be higher at both Haydock and Ripon though Leicester have got the listed Richard III Stakes (16:15). Formerly the Leicestershire Stakes, the likes of Aljamaaheer, Penitent and Sirius Prospect line up for the 7f event.

Ireland have the last of the afternoon meetings at Limerick (look out for the listed Martin Molony Stakes at 16:20) whilst both Doncaster and Wolverhampton (All Weather) are holding flat cards in the evening.

Sunday

All of Sunday’s racing will take place over the flat with Chelmsford City hosting a seven race card on the polytrack and Wetherby holding a similar standard affair though on turf.

The pick of the day’s racing is Gowran Park‘s 9f listed Victor Mccalmont Memorial Stakes with Dermot Weld, Aidan O’Brien and David Wachman all expected to field high quality runners (16:30).

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