Henderson to star at Sandown?

This could be a red-letter day for trainer Nicky Henderson, who saddles several of his Cheltenham contenders at Sandown. He is having a great season, but it must also be said that some hot favourites from the stable have flopped in recent days. He starts off with talking horse Moose Moran (Tony McCoy) who makes his N.H. debut in the 4yo hurdle at 14.25 CET, and has already been well backed for Cheltenham. H ws very useful on the flt, fifth in th Queen´s Vse at Rolk scot,m where he fibished wll clr f Mgic Prspcet (Chli Mnn/ Petr Toole). Of those with form over hurdles, Professeur Emery (Warren Greatrex/ Jason Maguire), 3rd here last time, looks easily the best.

Half an hour later, Henderson´s stable star Binocular (McCoy) appears to have a simple task in the Contenders Hurdle, where he has only 3 opponents, one of them his pacemaker. He will be at an unbackable price as he completes his preparation for the defense of his Champion Hurdle title. The mare Dorabelle (Donald McCain/ Maguire) has won 3 of her last 4 races and receives 15 lbs, but is still hard to fancy, and Siberian Tiger (Evan Williams/ Daryl Jacob), off the track since the autumn but useful on the flat and over hurdles, should follow Binocular home.

Main event at Sandown is the Grade One Scilly Isles novice chase over 2 1/2 miles at 15.25, where Henderson saddles two runners, both with chances - Mr. Gardner (Felix de Giles) and Nadiya de la Vega (Andrew Tinkler). However this is a very open race. Medermit (Alan King/ Robert Thornton) is top-rated here, but we give slight preference to Captain Chris (Philip Hobbs/ Richard Johnson), runner-up on his 3 starts so far this season. Big betting race here is the Heroes Handicap Hurdle over 2 3/4 miles at 16.00 with 20 runners. Paul Nicholls has a great record in this and his runner Prince Tom (Ian Pophan) comes on to the short list, together with Like a Hurricane (King/ Thornton), and Kilcrea Kim (Hobbs/ Johnson).

Betting forecast:
1. Race: Moose Moran - Professeur Emery - Kumbeshwar
2. Race: Binocular - Dorabelle - Siberian Tiger
3. Race: Medermit - Captain Chris - Nadiya De La Vega
4. Race: Lush Life - Mister Hyde - Alfie Spinner
5. Race: Leading Contender - Take The Breeze - Khachaturian
6. Race: Call Me A Legend - Anquetta - Noble Alan
7. Race: Heez A Cracker - Royale`S Charter - Hong Kong Harry