A happy new year to everyone! I hope everybody had a productive festive period. It was a busy time for us jockeys, and although I didn’t quite ride as many winners as I’d have liked during December, hopefully we can make up for that in January.

I’m hoping to ride 100 winners during the season, so I need to get back on track, but I have some lovely rides to look forward to, so hopefully I can put a dent in that this weekend.

Saturday

12.40 Sandown – Branson Missouri

She obviously has a fair bit to find on the ratings, but she’s been in the form of her life lately, and she just keeps improving. Conditions shouldn’t be a problem for her either, so it would be great if she could go and run well and get a bit of black type, as that would stand her in good stead going forward as a broodmare.

Love Envoi and Martello Sky obviously set a fairly decent standard, but she’ll love Sandown, and she’ll love the ground, so its just a case of if she can go fast enough.

1.15 Sandown – High Stakes

He ran reasonably well when third at Catterick back in November, so if he can build on that run, then he’d have a decent chance. Warren’s horses are in great form, and I went down there earlier this week just to have a sit on him, and he seemed in great order.

He looked the likely winner last time, but he didn’t quite finish the race off, so he wears the tongue tie for the first time, and hopefully that will help him come Saturday.

3.00 Sandown – Ramses De Teillee

It was a fantastic performance last time to win the way he did at Warwick, and although the handicapper has had his say, you’d have to say he’s got a favourites chance in this.

He’s still lower in the weights than when winning at Cheltenham a few years ago, and he’s in good order at home, so I don’t suspect the rise in the weights will be a major problem for him.

He hasn’t done an awful lot of racing right-handed, but when he has, he’s actually run very well, so I don’t think Sandown will hold any fears for him, and conditions should be perfect, so there’s plenty to like about him.

Sunday

1.40 Chepstow – Duc De Beauchene

He’s been disappointing so far this season, but as a result, he’s now below his last winning mark. This will be the easiest race he’s contested for a little while, but although he’s won round Chepstow before, you couldn’t be massively confident in him based on what he’s shown so far this season.

2.10 Chepstow – First Lord De Cuet

It was a brilliant run after a layoff last time when finishing second at Ffos Las, so a reproduction of that effort would give him a big chance. He was pretty fit that day, so I wouldn’t expect a huge amount of improvement from that run, but even if he steps forward a bit, that would be ideal.

Chepstow should suit him, as should the extra distance here, so if he runs as well as he did last time, then I’m hoping he could be very tough to beat.

2.40 Chepstow – Broomfields Cave

He ran pretty well the last day at Taunton when staying-on to finish fourth in a decent looking race. There’s lots of runners here, and it’s bound to be another competitive race, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he improved from that outing at Taunton.

He’ll make a nice staying chaser one day, so Chepstow should suit him better, but he looks like one that will learn on the job and improve with each outing, so he’s a nice horse for the future. 

Tom Scudamore, Coral Racing Ambassador