Sandown Evening Card, 28 May 2026: Tips and Selections

Sandown Evening Card, 28 May 2026: Tips and Selections

A quality Thursday evening at Sandown with three feature races headlining the card. Good ground, mostly sunny skies, and a proper test of staying ability in the Henry II before the Brigadier Gerard and Heron Stakes round out the big contests. With the Epsom Derby less than a fortnight away, several of these runners have Classic and Royal Ascot implications, so there is plenty at stake beyond the prize money tonight.

6:12 — Star Sports Henry II Stakes (Group 3, 2m)

Selection: Sweet William — 10/11 Boyle Sports

This is not a race where you need to be clever. Sweet William won this exact race in 2024, returned in the Sagaro Stakes at Ascot this month and put the race to bed with something to spare, with his main rival Caballo De Mar subsequently going on to win at Group 1 level. That form reference alone puts him streets ahead of most of this field on current shape.

The John and Thady Gosden yard posts a 21% win rate at Sandown across a meaningful sample, and Robert Havlin rides here for connections in what looks a confident pitch. The 5lb penalty for his Sagaro win is legitimate but this is still a horse rated 125 RPR running in a race where the next best on ratings is Lazy Griff at 126, a horse who has been absent since last June’s Irish Derby. Lazy Griff is fascinating on potential but asking him to step up sharply in trip on his return from a long absence is a significant ask.

Furthur, partnered by Oisin Murphy, was well beaten in the Yorkshire Cup on reappearance and, while the gelding operation adds an intriguing wild card, he has not threatened at this level since beating Epic Poet in the Geoffrey Freer last August. Epic Poet himself has been beaten in Group company ten times on the bounce, his best recent effort a solid third in the Yorkshire Cup.

Sweet William is the horse in form, the course winner, and the one with the most recent quality behind him. Take the price.

7:12 — Star Sports Brigadier Gerard Stakes (Group 3, 1m2f)

Selection: Gethin — 11/4 Boyle Sports

Yes, Ombudsman is a multiple Group 1 winner and the market rightfully makes him favourite, but 8/11 for a prep race over a trip he’s never tried before, carrying a 7lb penalty, and trained by a yard whose Sandown A/E of 0.80 underperforms expectations? There is value elsewhere here.

Gethin is the standout angle. Owen Burrows has a 17% win rate at Sandown from 54 runners and, critically, the yard is in sharp form right now, recording 4 wins from 14 runners in the last 14 days. Gethin himself reappeared with a convincing Listed win at Kempton over this exact trip in what was rated an improved performance. He has now been acquired by Wathnan Racing, which typically signals serious ambitions for a horse moving forward into Group company. His two previous runner-up efforts came at Listed level on soft and very soft ground, so there is a fair question about today’s good going, but his Kempton win on the all-weather at least demonstrates he handles quicker surfaces effectively enough.

Almeric is worth noting at 8/1 as a horse with abundant promise who has stalled on good ground but cannot be entirely dismissed given his class on softer conditions. Wimbledon Hawkeye Each-Way at 12/1 is also genuinely interesting: a Grade 3 winner in the United States last August, admirably consistent in Group company in Britain beforehand, and Cieren Fallon posts a 16% win strike rate at this track. If tuned up for this reappearance, the place terms at 2 places for 1/4 odds give you something to work with.

But the call is Gethin. The yard stats, the form trajectory, and the current ownership ambitions all point the same way.

6:42 — Star Sports Heron Stakes (Listed, 1m)

Selection: Yazin — 3/1 Boyle Sports

Talk Of New York gets the nod as William Buick’s mount from four Godolphin runners and his price reflects that stable confidence, but the angle here is on his stablemate Yazin, who sits at a more appealing price in what is genuinely a competitive nine-runner Listed contest.

Yazin completed a hat-trick on reappearance last month at Southwell, making all in a conditions race and doing it comfortably. Ryan Moore takes the ride, and his 19% Sandown win rate from nearly 1,000 rides at the track is the strongest overall body of evidence of any jockey on tonight’s card. The John and Thady Gosden yard has 8 winners from 32 runners in the last 14 days, suggesting the string is bang in form. Yazin has won on good to soft and good ground previously, so today’s conditions suit.

The concern is the jump in grade: he completed that hat-trick in a three-runner conditions race at Southwell, which is a considerable step removed from a nine-runner Listed race at Sandown on good ground. Talk Of New York settled better in the hood at Newmarket and Buick’s choice of mount in a multi-runner stable team carries clear significance. Andab Each-Way at 6/1 from Joseph O’Brien’s yard also has claims: a Listed winner, unlucky last time at the Curragh, and retaining cheekpieces that clearly helped.

Yazin at 3/1 with Moore up and the Gosden yard firing is where the value sits among the main market principals.

Today’s NAP

Gethin — Star Sports Brigadier Gerard Stakes (19:12, Sandown)
Odds: 11/4 — Boyle Sports (others: 11/4 Betfred, 5/2 LiveScore Bet)

Gethin arrives here on the back of a career-best performance at Kempton and with serious new ownership pushing him forward into Group company. Owen Burrows is bang in form at 4 from 14 over the last two weeks, and the trainer posts a solid 17% win rate at this track. Ombudsman is undeniably classy but carries a 7lb Group 1 penalty on a reappearance start over a trip he has never tackled, and the Gosden yard’s Sandown A/E of 0.80 flags consistent underperformance relative to market expectation. At 11/4, Gethin is a genuinely competitive price against a favourite the market may be slightly overestimating tonight.