Sandown Placepot: Friday February 15

Today's Placepot attempt comes from Sandown

Timeform's Tony McFadden brings you a Placepot permutation from this afternoon's meeting at Sandown...

13:20- Captain Cardington and Pistol have both chalked up a win over hurdles, but they don't appear to be straightforward and it could pay to oppose them in what looks like a tricky opener. The first horse we will include is the Nick Williams-trained Rio de Sivola. Whilst having plenty to find on the figures, there was definite encouragement to be taken from his initial effort over hurdles, where he finished third at Ffos Las, and many of the yard's juveniles do improve significantly from their first outing. As I say, this looks like a tricky race so we will add a second string to our bow in Shadarpour. The concern is that the heavy ground may play against him, but he shaped with real promise in a jumpers' bumper and may have slipped under the radar. 

13:50- We select our first banker of the day in the form of the Venetia Williams-trained Relax. The eight-year-old, like many of his stablemates, is currently in a rich vein of form, comfortably scoring at Doncaster last time, and there is no reason to think he shouldn't put up another bold bid. His strong-travelling style should prove to be an advantage at this venue and, for all Mountainous appeals as a credible opponent, we will keep the lines down and bank on Relax.

14:25- Unexposed runners from the Nicky Henderson stable always command respect. However, his five-year-old mare Utopie des Bordes faces a pair of serious rivals in Twigline and She Ranks Me and we will take her on in the hope of a good result. Twigline looks seriously interesting, representing Willie Mullins on a rare foray to Britain outside of the Festival. She created a nice impression on her sole start for Mullins, winning with a fair degree of comfort, and she remains open to significant improvement. She Ranks Me might not be open to similar levels of progress, but she has achieved a fairly useful level of form over hurdles and should give her running.

15:00- Fine Parchment is often difficult to catch right and he needs to recover from a below-par effort last time, but we will take a chance that this strong-travelling, fluent jumper will be suited by Sandown's chase course and can bounce back. He isn't one to trust implicitly, though, so we will also add Gwanako. Paul Nicholls' ten-year-old shaped as if he needed the run when finishing fourth in a veterans' chase here earlier in the month, and he should be on the premises granted the anticipated improvement.

15:30- Master of The Game looks like an embryonic chaser, but that did not stop him from getting off the mark over hurdles at Bangor in May and he should be able to supplement that success on his return. 

16:05- This could be a strong contest as plenty appeal as potential improvers in handicaps. Market Option may not be open to the same improvement as some, but he did shape with a degree of promise when finishing a well-beaten second at Towcester. He fell before the race had begun in earnest last time, but we will give Venetia Williams' runner another chance. The other horse we will turn to is Goodtoknow. Richard Lee's charge should have few problems with the anticipated gruelling conditions and may benefit from the step up to two and a half miles. 

Selections:
13:20- 4, 6
13:50- 3
14:25- 1, 5
15:00- 2, 7
15:30- 1
16:05- 4, 9
= 16 lines

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