REVIEW: SANDOWN 2ND FEBRUARY 2013 AND DARLAN

Before I kick off the review of the racing on Sandown, I would just like to spare a moment or two for a horse that was fatally injured today, Darlan. The favorite for the Champion Hurdle race next month, tragically fell at the last fence at Doncaster today, resulting in a fatal injury. AP McCoy, the jockey on board Darlan, refused to ride his other horses that day, due to the emotional accident.

We lost a great horse in Darlan, and I'm sure he will be remembered for a very long time. 

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Onto the news at Sandown.

After a very unlucky weekend at Cheltenham last weekend, I was determined to get straight back into the racing action. Overall, it was a brilliant weekend as far as the two races I looked at were concerned. 

1:50PM - Here I thought Toubab, Eastlake and Nozic had the best chances of winning this one. I found out late on in the day that Nozic was a Non Runner, which left Toubab and Eastlake in my selection. Toubab ran a very poor race and was never traveling with the rest of the pack. His jumping varied and he never looked comfortable throughout. He started off favorite and I'm sure that there will be a lot of upset punters out there, who were dismayed with his performance.

On the bright side, Eastlake stormed home to win, in very convincing fashion. He always looked comfortable, and with the ground suiting him well, he made sure that he beat his opposition well. The reason why I thought he was best suited as an Each Way bet, was due to the quality which I believed Toubab had. I knew that Eastlake would be near the winner at the end, but to come and win it in fantastic style, was brilliant.  

3:35PM - Here I had a bet on Mister Hyde to win and Viking Bond to place. Now, if any punter had walked into a bookmakers and looked at the race half way through, they would have bet their mortgage that Mister Hyde and Viking Bond were to come first and second. Everything was going MH's way, the pace was strong which I knew was what he liked, and VB was traveling very well just behind him. The pair altered positions and it wasn't until the last half mile, that Mister Hyde lost all momentum and rapidly fell down the pack. He really looked like he was going to win turning into the home straight, but it seemed that the pace was almost too quick for his liking and he ended up finishing down the order. 

On the plus side, Viking Bond., which started at 8/1, finished 2nd which was a great Each Way result. Again, the tempo was very much to his liking and he really impressed me on this outing. Against tough opposition here, he is sure to drop in price on his next run.

BETTING TALLY SINCE START OF BLOG

5 Bets
2 Winners
1 Placed
2 Lost

To conclude, a very promising and encouraging weekend. To make up for the unfortunate circumstances at Cheltenham a week ago, we managed to turn it around and make a healthy profit from Saturday's racing.

Tune in on Friday for the next update for Saturday's racing.

James