🏇 Sandown Jump Finale: The Full Report

How’s it going?

Jumps fans will be holding back the tears on Saturday as the main jumps season comes to an end – until October 😭

There is summer jumps racing, but it’s not the same as having Cheltenham and the gang.

However, top-class jumps action does take place over in Ireland from Monday, courtesy of the five-day Punchestown Festival – more on that later ☘️

👉 Sandown’s bet365 Gold Cup takes place at 3.30pm - live on ITV.

👉 Jonbon goes for a third win in the Celebration Chase (2.55).

👉 Dan Skelton finishes the 2025-26 jumps season as top trainer – Sean Bowen receives the top jockey award.

👉 If you are attending Sandown, there will be a chance to meet the mighty Constitution Hill before racing. Not really sure how that works 🤝

👉 Summer-like good to firm ground already awaits runners at Haydock, Leicester and Doncaster.

👉 Summer also comes to mind at Navan, where the Vintage Crop Stakes provides early clues for June’s Ascot Gold Cup. Last year’s St Leger winner Scandinavia makes his return.

👉 Sunday bonus: If you happen to be awake early on Sunday, switch Sky Sports Racing on around 7.30am to see if Ka Ying Rising can win his 20th consecutive race. If we tipped it, it would lose.

👉 Double Sunday bonus: Trainer Archie Watson’s two-year-olds are 3 from 4 this season, and his next one to run is Phalanx Nation at Nottingham on Sunday (2.48).

Jockey Hollie Doyle told At The Races that Phalanx Nation has ‘come to hand early and is ready to go to the track. I’ve ridden her in a lot of her work at home and she has a great mind.’ Nothing like the Paddock Report team then!

1) If you’re following favourites.

Head to Haydock and Leicester.

At this very same Haydock meeting during the last five years:

£1 on all favourites (incl. joint) returned 16 wins from 41 bets for a +£11 profit.

At this very same Leicester meeting during the last five years:

£1 on the clear favourite returned 15 wins from 33 bets for a +£11 profit.

2) If you’re looking for value.

Head to Navan.

At this very same Navan meeting during the last five years:

£1 on runners at 5-1 to 8-1 away from the front two in the betting returned 16 wins from 79 bets for a +£42 profit.

3) If you’re looking for a trainer or two to follow.

Side with James Fanshawe and Kevin Ryan on the Flat.

Fanshawe’s last five runners this week finished:

Monday: 1st of 9
Tuesday: 1st of 9
Tuesday: 2nd of 7
Tuesday: 1st of 11
Thursday: 2nd of 12

He has two runners on Saturday:

5.05 Leicester Lion Of Mali
7.15 Doncaster Charmaine

Should you be wondering, Fanshawe’s nickname isn’t ‘Fanny’, but the ‘Skeleton Man’, because of his narrow frame.

As for Kevin Ryan, we don’t know his nickname, but his yard blanked throughout March at 0-21 and are now banging. His last six runners this week finished:

Monday: 1st of 14
Tuesday: 6th of 8
Tuesday: 1st of 4
Tuesday: 2nd of 7
Wednesday: 1st of 8
Thursday: 1st of 9

Ryan has four runners on Saturday:

2.05 Leicester Russet Gold
2.35 Haydock Henlein
4.20 Haydock Full Gas
5.05 Leicester Circle Of Trust

4) If you’re looking to bet on winning distances.

There could be a big winning distance at Sandown (2.55), as the last 10 margins in the race were: 5½L, 4L, 3¾L, 12L, 3¾L, 2½L, 3¼L, 8L, 15L, 6L.

At the other end of the scale, a small winning margin may pop up at Haydock (3.10), where the last seven margins were: neck, ½L, 1¼L, ½L, ¾L, neck, neck.

If you’re looking for more of the same, then our Paddock Pointers cover the rest of Saturday…

You might need a racecard which displays the following positive stats for Saturday’s horses – like this, which is from the bookie Betfred’s site…

The official rating we mention in our stats is marked as OR in Betfred’s above example, so Havalia is officially rated 135. The rest is pretty self-explanatory as you can see above, such as trainer, age, weight etc.

With that in mind, we’ve listed the following pointers to help guide you in the right direction.

Based on past winners of the same race, these are all good signs – some races have more clues than others…

1.45 Sandown

🥇 Form: Won last time out
🐴 Age: Four and six-year-olds (ignore five-year-olds)
🔟 Rating: Officially rated 121 or higher
🗓️ Days: Ran during the last 45 days

1.55 Navan

🎲 Odds: Top two in the betting
🕵️ Trainer: Aidan O’Brien

2.20 Sandown

🎲 Odds: Favourites
🏁 Winning distances: 5L, 2½L, 4L, 16L, neck, 11L, 2¾L, 4½L

2.30 Navan

🕵️ Trainer: Mrs John Harrington

2.55 Sandown

🐴 Age: Seven and eight-year-olds
🎲 Odds: Top four in the market
🔟 Rating: Officially rated 159 or higher
🥇 Form: Won during last three runs
🕵️ Trainer: Nicky Henderson

3.05 Navan

🐴 Age: Four to seven-year-olds
🥇 Form: Top-two effort during last two runs
🕵️ Trainer: Aidan O’Brien

3.19 Leicester

🐴 Age: Four-year-olds
🗓️ Days: Ran during the last 21 days
🥇 Form: No win during last six runs

3.30 Sandown

🐴 Age: Seven and eight-year-olds
🥇 Form: Won during last three runs
🏆 Track: Never won at Sandown

4.05 Sandown

🥇 Form: Second to eighth place last time out
⚖️ Weight: 11st or 11st10lb
🕵️ Trainer: Paul Nicholls

4.10 Ripon

🐴 Age: Four-year-olds
🥇 Form: Top-three effort during last three runs
🗓️ Days: Ran during the last 27 days
🏁 Winning distances: ¾L, ¾L, head, ½L

4.30 Leicester

🐴 Age: Four to six-year-olds
🎲 Odds: Top four in the betting
🥇 Form: Top-three effort during last three runs

4.40 Sandown

🐴 Age: Six and seven-year-olds
🗓️ Days: Last ran 16 days ago or longer
🔟 Rating: Officially rated 125 or higher

4.45 Ripon

🎲 Odds: 6/1 or shorter
🚦 Starting stall: Drawn 4 or higher

4.55 Haydock

🐴 Age: Four and five-year-olds
🥇 Form: Top five effort last time out
🔟 Rating: Officially rated 64 to 69
🗓️ Days: Ran during the last 27 days

5.05 Leicester

🎲 Odds: Favourites

5.20 Ripon

⚖️ Weight: 8st11lb or more
🥇 Form: Second to fifth place last time out
🏇 In-play: Front-prominent runners

5.25 Navan

🐴 Age: Five to eight-year-olds

The numbers are in, and here are Saturday’s diamonds in the rough to ‘make the frame’ 💎.

When we say ‘make the frame’, we mean utilising the bookies’ extra places on offer, not just the first three or four.

Remember to look for a bookie with extended place odds 🔍 – for instance, in a 20-runner race at bet365, up to 10 places are available (and no, we’re not affiliated with them!)

1.20 Navan Arctic Steps
1.40 Ripon Bluestone Lady
1.55 Navan Barrow Boy
2.20 Sandown Matterhorn
3.00 Ripon No More Bolero
3.45 Haydock Commanding Officer
3.50 Limerick Mythical Rock
4.10 Ripon Seven Questions
5.05 Leicester Lion Of Mali
5.20 Ripon Blue Nguru
5.25 Navan Arcland
6.15 Doncaster Silky Lass
6.30 Southwell Chasing Time
6.45 Doncaster Sailor Song
7.00 Southwell Down To The Kid
7.15 Doncaster Charmaine
7.30 Southwell Zarinca
8.00 Southwell Delinquent
8.30 Southwell Marry The Night

Admittedly, we're struggling to get a hot fav beat on Saturday, but we’ll flag up a stat regarding trainer Dan Skelton’s record at Sandown’s Jump Finale meeting, which stands at 0-24 during the last five years.

Having endured a worse run than Arsenal in recent weeks, The Purist keeps faith with methods that stood the test of time.

You see, The Purist simply has a mind that won’t be changed – a will that won’t be broken. Actually, those words are from a Keane song, but they sound pretty good.

Here’s who The Purist is backing on Saturday…

1.55 Navan: West Of Eden

Trainer Aidan O’Brien won this maiden with a two-year-old debutant in three of the last four years. West Of Eden is this year’s entry, and the fact his dam (mother) won as a two-year-old offers encouragement.

3.40 Navan: Bloom

O’Brien also won this Group 3 event many times, often with a filly making its seasonal reappearance – step forward Bloom. This three-year-old was last seen winning a mile maiden in September, but is bred for this step up to 1m2f.

4.55 Haydock: Fiscal Policy

Trainer Ruth Carr hit a midweek treble, and her runners are cooking. Fiscal Policy had its first outing since January 15 and caught the eye in third. That blew the cobwebs away, and Joanna Mason – who won on him two summers ago – has been booked in the saddle. Game on.

📌 Monday’s five-day Punchestown Festival is basically Ireland’s equivalent of the Cheltenham Festival, with rematches galore and old scores to be settled, including these two…

As for the big stats to look for, then get your head around these two…

Mullins, not Willie, but Emmet, is the trainer to be with.

► £1 on Emmet Mullins’ runners at the last five Punchestown Festivals returned 9 wins from 35 bets for a +£35 profit.

A further breakdown of Mullins’ runners here also helps:

Chase: 5 wins from 9 (+39)
NH Flat (bumpers): 4 wins from 13 (+3)
Hurdle: 0 wins from 13 (-13)

► £1 on any runner that won by 1L to 3L last time out at the last five Punchestown Festivals returned 28 wins from 132 bets for a +£80 profit.

You may need a formbook for that final stat, but there are plenty of free ones about – Racing Post, At The Races, Sporting Life, Racing TV, etc.

► ITV (free): Sandown: 1.45, 2.20, 2.55, 3.30; Haydock: 2.35; Leicester: 2.05

Next weekend sees the first Classics of the Flat season.

Both the 2,000 Guineas and 1,000 Guineas take place at Newmarket.

We’ll have stats, numbers, trends, pointers, and, err… more stats, with cream on top.

Until then…

..keep ‘em peeled 👀

The Paddock Report Team.