Sandown, Saturday 25 April 2026: Tips and Best Bets

Sandown, Saturday 25 April 2026: Tips and Best Bets

Sandown's end-of-season card delivers three graded chases and hurdles on good ground, and the going is the key factor across every race today. Horses proven on a quick surface get a significant edge here, and with several runners dropping back in trip after Cheltenham and Aintree assignments, fitness and freshness will matter. Three good races, several genuine puzzles, and at least one standout bet. Here is how it shapes up.

2:20 — bet365 Oaksey Chase (Grade 2) (2m6½f)

Seven runners for this Grade 2 staying chase, and the form is compressed at the top. The yard angle cuts this down quickly. Gary and Josh Moore send out two runners but have gone 0 from 20 in the last 14 days, which makes it hard to get excited about either of their representatives on current evidence alone.

Blow Your Wad is the clear pick at 13/8 (Bet365, William Hill). The Chepstow win last time out was genuinely impressive, defying top weight on good to soft ground and looking better than the handicapper has him rated. He transitions to this Grade 2 level having already shown Grade 2 form at Cheltenham, and the weights fall his way in this smaller field. The concern is his stable's recent form, but the horse's own profile is hard to ignore.

Doyen Quest at 9/4 (Bet Victor) represents the Dan Skelton yard, which is firing at 12 from 36 in the last fortnight. Skelton's operation is clearly in form, and Doyen Quest knows Sandown, having placed here in a Grade 2 previously. He came up short in Grade 1 company at Aintree, but dropping back to this level should suit. The stable booking of Harry Skelton is significant.

Selection: Blow Your Wad at 13/8 with Bet365 or William Hill. He heads the weights for a reason and his Chepstow effort was a performance that deserved a bigger stage.

2:55 — bet365 Celebration Chase (Grade 1) (1m7½f)

The race of the day, and one of the most competitive Grade 1s of the entire spring season. Seven runners, all with strong claims, and the drop back to around two miles sorts the field considerably.

Jonbon (15/8, Unibet or PricedUp Bet) is the horse who knows this race best. Form figures of 112 in this very contest are hard to argue with, and Nicky Henderson's yard is clocking 9 from 31 over the last 14 days. The caveat that matters: Jonbon has been campaigned over 2m4f and 2m5f this season with good reason, and the drop back to 1m7f is a genuine question. His Cheltenham Festival record over two miles reads 2222, which tells its own story.

Thistle Ask is available at 15/8 with Bet365 and is the selection here. The Skelton yard is in serious form, and Harry Skelton takes the ride over stablemate Mirabad, which speaks volumes. The horse's record since joining the stable reads 11112, five runs and only beaten once. Crucially, that defeat came to Jonbon on soft ground at Ascot, a surface that suited Jonbon more than this horse. Thistle Ask is 5-5 on good ground and today is forecast good. He sets a strong pace, jumps accurately, and may not have reached his ceiling. The soft ground reversal looks context-dependent rather than a form knock, and normal conditions today play right into his hands.

Solness at 9/2 (Unibet) showed career-best form at Aintree and is a smart front-runner, but Thistle Ask also goes forward, which sets up a pace duel that may not suit either. JJ Slevin is a quality jockey and Solness must be respected, but the in-form Skelton stable with the ground firmly in their favour is the call.

Selection: Thistle Ask at 15/8 with Bet365. Ground conditions flip the Ascot form, the stable is firing, and the jockey booking confirms this is the one Skelton wants to win with.

4:02 — bet365 Select Hurdle (Grade 2) (2m5½f)

This is a race with a very short answer at the top. Kabral Du Mathan is a genuine 1/2 shot and justifiably so, but you are not going to find value at that price.

Kabral Du Mathan has been exceptional since joining Dan Skelton, winning at Haydock and Cheltenham before shaping as the best horse in the Stayers' Hurdle until stamina ran out late. Back at 2m5f, this trip should be right in his wheelhouse, and Skelton's yard is, as noted, very much in form. The favourite is the winner, almost certainly.

The interest for punters wanting a return is Jingko Blue at 5/1 (Bet365). He finished second to Kabral Du Mathan at Cheltenham over this sort of trip and then won the Festival handicap in impressive fashion from the front. Aintree at 3m found him out, but this shorter assignment suits. He did not stay three miles; two and a half should be a different story. Nicky Henderson sends out strong runners today and Jingko Blue offers real place value at minimum, with a scenario where Kabral Du Mathan underperforms not entirely impossible after a busy season.

The three 14/1 shots (Lucky Place, Rubaud, French Ship) are all at realistic each-way prices in a six-runner field, but with only two places paid, you need them to beat Kabral Du Mathan to get a return, and none of them profiles to do that convincingly. Rubaud is racing over fences mainly this season and Cheltenham found him out. Lucky Place has finished behind Kabral Du Mathan already. French Ship has had a chaotic three outings.

Selection: Kabral Du Mathan at 1/2. Sometimes you back the banker. This horse has earned it.

Today's NAP