Sandown Tips

Sandown Park in Esher is a Grade 1 track and one of the top dual-purpose racecourses in the UK, staging 24 race days a year.

There are 15 flat meetings of which 5 are summer evening cards featuring some of the best quality night racing in the UK calendar, whilst National Hunt enthusiasts are treated to 9 days of quality jump racing.

Highlights: Over Jumps the major race of the year is the Grade 1 Tingle Creek Chase in December. Often seen as a good guide for the Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, past winners include Master Minded and Sprinter Sacre.

 Also staged on this card is the Henry VIII Novices Chase, another valuable early season race for prospective 'Arkle' contenders at the Cheltenham festival.

Other notable national hunt days include the Veterans Chase Series Final (January), Scilly Isles Novice Chase (February), and bet365 Jumps Finale day towards the end of April sees the champion national hunt jockey crowned and features the Celebration Chase (two miles), Oaksey Chase and the Select Hurdle.

The Sandown Gold Cup Chase, a 3-mile 5-furlong handicap chase quite often a final outing of the season for chasers after taking in the Grand National and their own national race with the London National which takes place in December.

Imperial Cup day in March, traditionally the weekend before the Cheltenham Festival is an excellent day racing before the annual 'pilgrimage' to Gloucestershire for national hunt fans. The ultra-competitive Imperial Cup Handicap Hurdle run over two miles has an added £££ bonus incentive for the winner (Martin Pipe's Blowing Wind a past example) if they decide to take in and win a race at the festival the following week.

Run on the same day as the Imperial Cup is the Paddy Power Novices Handicap Chase, this is a race that used to feature at the Cheltenham Festival, however, in 2021 it was dropped and replaced by a new mares chase and was moved to Sandown to be run a week before the festival.

In total, there are 10 graded races over jumps.

On the flat, the Coral Eclipse run in July is the highlight. Derby winners from the previous month often attempt the Derby/Eclipse double. Recent Derby winners who achieved the double were Sea The Stars in 2009 and Golden Horn in 2015. This race is quite often the first opportunity in the flat season where the best of the current crop of 3-year-olds tackle their elders and top middle-distance horses.

In April the course hosts the 'Classic Trial Day' which can give you a lot of pointers to races coming up later in the season, this day features the Esher Cup, Gordon Richard Stakes, Sandown Mile and the Classic Trial.

Sandown stages five quality evening flat meetings during the summer, the National Stakes (listed race for 2 year old's) and the Brigadier Gerard Stakes (Group 3) in May are the highlights whilst in July the Coral Charge is one not to miss, a race previously won by the likes of Battaash.

There are nine Group races on the flat, a Group 1, a Group 2 and seven Group 3’s.

TV Channel: Racing TV

* All statistics below are based on the previous five years at Sandown

Sandown Outright Favourite Statistics

• Flat Handicaps: 85-285 (30%) -27.54
• Flat Non-Handicaps: 37-87 (43%) -8.25
• Handicap Chases: 25-80 (31%) -2.24
• Handicap Hurdles: 28-75 (37%) +20.22
• Non-Handicap Chases: 21-34 (62%) +7.89
• Non-Handicap Hurdles: 31-57 (54%) +1.00

The course is oval-shaped and around one and a half miles in length, the home straight is a steady uphill climb to the winning post.

On the flat, races run over 5 furlongs take place on the straight course with a similar steady climb to the main oval course.

Sandown Racecourse Address: Portsmouth Rd, Esher KT10 9AJ

Sandown Racecourse Telephone: 01372 464348

To buy tickets for a race day at Sandown, head over to their official ticket booking webpage.

Sandown is a fair track and true test for a flat or national hunt horse.

The final three fences in the back straight known as the 'railway fences' are tricky especially for a novice as they come in quick succession with little ground between to regain momentum if meeting and making an error at the first of those. 

The first of the two fences in the home straight comes fairly quickly after the final turn and can catch a tiring horse out along with the uphill finish, particularly on soft going.

The likely race outcome can change after the final fence, horses quite often can be distracted by the noise from the grandstand and wander across to say 'hello'.

If you are going racing at Sandown today then be sure to download the OLBG app to get all the latest Sandown tips from OLBG horse racing tipsters.

Backing stall 3 at Sandown over a trip of 5f is the most profitable stall and trip combination at Sandown returning an LSP of +82.07 over the last five years. The stall with the worst loss at Sandown in the win market when breaking it down to race trips is stall 5 over a trip of 1m2f, backing all runners in this stall over that trip over the past five years would have returned a loss of -61.99.

Here we have the draw bias for Sandown taken into consideration races with ten or more runners, we will break down the figures by race distance, draws can be much more important over the shorter trips in which runners do not have time to find their position during the race meaning the draw is probably more important than the races over longer distances.

• Sprints (5f to 7½f)
• Mile (1m to 1m1½f)
• Middle Distance (1m2f to 1m5½f)

The following table shows a breakdown over a group of trips and shows how each position of the draw does, for example in a twelve-runner race would be Low (Stalls 1-4), Mid (Stalls 5-8) and High (Stalls 9-12), the positions will always be lowest stall number to highest.

Who are the best flat jockeys and trainers to bet on at Sandown?

Following W J Haggas would have returned a profit here at Sandown with an LSP of +30.16 and their twenty-two winners have them at the head of the profitable trainers' list. J H M Gosden does lead the trainers' list overall with twenty-nine winners but shows an overall loss. Mrs H S Main is the trainer to follow at Sandown if you are backing eachway as they show the best LSP of all the trainers in the eachway markets, that is +29.31 which is courtesy of their eleven placings (six winners). At the other end of the spectrum is C G Cox who has a terrible record at Sandown, of all the trainers their LSP of -69.62 is the worst, they have an 8% strike rate with eight winners from one hundred two runners.

William Buick has produced a total of thirty-nine winners at Sandown racecourse and with an LSP of +1.58, they top the winner's list for jockeys who also show a profit. When looking at jockeys and looking for some eachway value at Sandown, the jockey who shows the best eachway profit is Dane O'Neill, whose LSP is +25.99 which has been accumulated by a total of nineteen placings which includes six winners. The jockey with the worst record at Sandown based on LSP is James Doyle who has only an 11% strike rate with thirteen winners from one hundred fourteen rides which have returned an LSP of -62.89.

Sandown Picks & Hints

Here are some factors at Sandown for certain trainers or jockeys which have been profitable:

• 6-12 (50%) +12.83 - Backing William Buick rides when on horses aged 5yo

Sandown Top Jockey and Trainer Combinations

Here are the best trainer and jockey combinations here at Sandown based on the number of winners:

• 17 Wins: Charlie Appleby & William Buick
• 16 Wins: J H M Gosden & L Dettori
• 13 Wins: A M Balding & Oisin Murphy
• 10 Wins: W J Haggas & Tom Marquand
• 10 Wins: Sir Michael Stoute & Ryan Moore

Sandown Top Trainers By Most Winners and a Level Stakes Profit

Sandown Top Jockeys By Most Winners and a Level Stakes Profit

Who are the best national hunt jockeys and trainers to bet on at Sandown?

Focusing only on trainers who show a profit when backing all of their runners, top of the pile at Sandown for the number of winners is P F Nicholls who has produced a total of thirty-nine winners in return for an LSP of +37.01. If you are more of an eachway player then you may want to know which trainer is best to follow at Sandown and that would be Tim Vaughan who shows the best eachway LSP which is +16.65 thanks to their five placings (three winners). With an LSP of -57.46 at Sandown, G L Moore heads the list for worst trainers at this course, which is a result of twenty-nine winners from one hundred seventy runners which is a strike rate of 17%.

Following Gavin Sheehan would have returned a profit here at Sandown with an LSP of +1.58 and their eight winners have them at the head of the profitable jockeys' list. Harry Cobden does lead the jockeys' list overall with twenty-six winners but shows an overall loss. Jordan Nailor is the jockey to follow at Sandown if you are backing eachway as they show the best LSP of all the jockeys in the eachway markets, that is +14.28 which is courtesy of their nine placings (two winners). At the other end of the spectrum is Sam Twiston-Davies who has a terrible record at Sandown, of all the jockeys their LSP of -58.75 is the worst and they have a 4% strike rate with three winners from sixty-nine rides.

Sandown Picks & Hints

Here are some factors at Sandown for certain trainers or jockeys which have been profitable:

• 9-22 (41%) +14.29 - Backing P F Nicholls runners when in a Chase race
• 7-10 (70%) +13.84 - Backing Nico Boinville rides when on horses aged 4yo
• 6-10 (60%) +11.59 - Backing N J Henderson runners when horses are aged 4yo

Sandown Top Jockey and Trainer Combinations

Here are the best trainer and jockey combinations here at Sandown based on the number of winners:

• 23 Wins: P F Nicholls & Harry Cobden
• 18 Wins: G L Moore & Jamie Moore
• 18 Wins: N J Henderson & Nico Boinville
• 10 Wins: Miss Venetia Williams & Charlie Deutsch
• 8 Wins: Daniel Skelton & Harry Skelton

Sandown Top Trainers By Most Winners and a Level Stakes Profit

Sandown Top Jockeys By Most Winners and a Level Stakes Profit

With a huge combined experience of horse racing between them, this content has been created and is maintained by Darren Brett, James Banting and Andy Powell. All of the data for Sandown Racecourse which includes the favourite statistics, draw bias and the trainer and jockey statistics have been created using results from HorseRaceBase.

Darren Brett

Tipster competition manager

Darren has worked in the horse racing industry for decades bringing to OLBG for the last 20 years a wealth of knowledge, creating much of our content on these sports. Darren also manages our Grand National Guide and is the go-to font of knowledge for the world's greatest steeplechase.

James Banting

Tipster competition assistant

James Banting, a passionate horse racing enthusiast and aficionado, brings a wealth of experience to OLBG, having attended numerous race meetings over the years. His background working with the Jockey Club provides him with a unique insider's perspective on the industry.

Andy Powell

Content editor

Andy is a seasoned professional with more than 15 years of experience in the field of horse racing. He has a thorough understanding of the sport, from analyzing complex statistical data to being part of a winning syndicate at the Cheltenham Festival. Andy is responsible for managing the horse racing trend blogs on OLBG.