Sandown and York

The period between Epsom´s Derby meeting and Royal Ascot is always dull, but there is some fair racing today, especially at Sandown and York although both tracks have better cards tomorrow. With Saeed bin Suroor now coming into form -he won yesterday´s main feature at Newbury with the German-bred Rumh-, his runners at Sandown should be noted - Special Boy in the 2yo maiden at 16.25 CET and Sahafh in the handicap for 3yo fillies at 17.00, both partnered by Frankie Dettori. Best bet here however should be Verbeeck (d McMahon/ Jamie Spencer) in the opening 2yo maiden at 15.20. He has run two good races in decent company and is due for a win; however there are some well-bred newcomers here, notably El DIamante (Richard Hannon/ Richard Hughes), who cost 200,000 euros as a yearling, much more than his stable companions usually cost.

At York there are some hot handicaps, for example the 2 miler at 16.15 with 17 runners. The interesting one here is La Estrella (Don Cantillon/ Steve Donohoe) - despite the name, a gelding - who has won his last 6 races and altogether 11 of his last 13 races. However these have all been on the all-weather, usually at Southwell, and all low-grade events, mainly claimers. In fact he has not run in a flat race on turf for 3 1/2 years. It could be that he is thrown in off his current rating of 86, but we would not bet on it. Bollin Judith (Tim Easterby/ David Allan) is the likely favourite here, having won well at Newcastle last time, but has gone up 7 lbs for that success. We feel that Descaro (David O´Meara/ Danny Tudhope), who stays well, is generally consistent and whose trainer and jockey are in red-hot form, looks a reliable each-way alternative.

Quite a few of the top jockeys travel on from Sandown to Goodwood´s evening meeting, where Richard Hughes could take the 3yo maiden at 19.45 on Richard Hannon´s Puttingonthestyle, while Frankie can win the 3yo handicap at 20.55 on Jeremy Noseda´s top-weight Club Oceanic.

There is also 3 jumps meetings today, at Market Rasen in the afternoon and Aintree and Wexford (Ireland) in the evening. Most interesting runner here, and in fact our best bet of the day, is Smokey Oakey (Mark Tompkins/ Colin Bolger) in the maiden hurdle at 18.25 at Aintree. This smart flat performer, owned by Oscar-winning actor Judy Dench and winner of the Lincoln Handicap in 2008, ran a great race last November in a hot event at Ascot and a repetition of that form should see him score here (as long as the going is not too firm).