Timeform Radio Tip 
/ Rory Delargy / 23 April 2011 / Leave a Comment 
Balthazar King has been campaigned for a late season prize - can he win at Sandown?
"I cannot desert Blathazar King in a race his trainer has clearly had in mind all season."
Rory Delargy is the Timeform Radio pundit on another exceptionally busy Saturday afternoon, and his best bet comes in the hugely competitive Bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown.
One of my favourite events of the entire season is what I used to know as the Whitbread, particularly having witnessed one of the greatest races ever run when Special Cargo got up in a thrilling three-way photo to beat my fancy Diamond Edge in 1984. Click here to view it on Youtube.
These days it's the Bet365 Gold Cup, and takes place at 15:10 at Sandown this afternoon. I'm loath to desert Aimigayle, but have always maintained that Balthazar King would be a horse to follow when tackling open handicaps over fences so I cannot desert him in a race his trainer has clearly had in mind all season.
He's a horse who impressed me in the autumn with his jumping technique, and while clearly not up to the very best in novice company, gave the impression he'd take a major contest when faced with a realistic task.
Despite holding entries in various races at the Cheltenham Festival, Philip Hobbs immediately ruled him out of the meeting on the day the weights were released, stating that he had other prizes in mind. A couple of confidence boosters at Hereford and at Cheltenham's April meeting will have put him spot on, and his superb 'lepping' will be an asset at Sandown, with its line of seven fences down the back. Hobbs has won this contest with Monkerhostin and Lacdoudal in recent years, and he can improve that impressive statistic today.
One of the great myths of the draw is that it's always an advantage to be drawn close to the rail on a round course. That's fine for Chester and the like, but a rail draw in handicaps over 1m at Sandown is often a curse, in large part because there is no rail on the immediate inside after the start. The natural jockeying for position causes more problems for those in what are now low stalls. As a result, horses drawn middle to high are often able to avoid scrimmaging and take a prominent pitch. That's the theory anyway, and the horse to test it today is the Denis Coakley-trained Huygens in the 16:50.
Coakley has only saddled five runners since January, but all of them have been placed, with two of the last three winning, and Huygens is a horse with the perfect profile for this contest - best fresh, on polytrack or fast turf, proven on the track and with the distinct possibility of improvement after only eight career starts. Darryll Holland rides the track well, and a draw in stall 13 may well prove lucky for some!
Recommended Bets
Back Balthazar King in the 15:10 Sandown @ [9.2] (NAP)
Back Huygens in the 16:50 Sandown @ [9.8] (NB)
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