Matt Brocklebank highlights the best value bets at Sandown and Haydock

Recommended bets: Saturday racing

1pt e.w. Sir Roderic in Sandown 2.25 at 25/1

1pt e.w. Blakeney Point in Haydock 3.15 at 22/1 

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* Sir Roderic declared a non-runner on Saturday morning

Coral-Eclipse day at Sandown has often proved a fork in the road for Classic colts with aspirations of stardom beyond their own age group and Saturday’s race is no exception.

Barney Roy doesn’t quite have an unbeaten record to protect but that may well have been the case had Churchill not enjoyed such a relatively smooth passage on his way to 2000 Guineas success, while Cliffs Of Moher was possibly a shade unfortunate to be collared in the shadow of the post by his stablemate Wings Of Eagles in the Investec Derby.

Eminent is still attempting to prove himself a genuine top-notch three-year-old but, like Cliffs Of Moher, dropping back from a mile and a half will potentially see him in a much better light.

The race has all the hallmarks of a thriller with Prince Of Wales’s second and third, Decorated Knight and Ulysses, far from out of the reckoning despite having to concede 10lb to the young guns.

It’s a race to watch and enjoy but other than Barney Roy looking a perfectly reasonable 3/1 second-favourite at time of writing, nothing else stands out at the prices and thankfully there are some big handicaps to get stuck into elsewhere on the card, and at Haydock.

Four of the last five winners of the Coral Challenge (2.25) have come into the race with winning Sandown form already in the book and that stat adds further weight to the crystal-clear form claims of Henry Candy’s lightly-raced six-year-old Greenside.

He was well in command when scoring under Ryan Moore here last month and has gone up just 5lb in the weights. He skipped a possible tilt at the Royal Hunt Cup in preference for this race and holds an obvious chance from a low draw, but he’s also been well found in the market and it’s worth chancing dual course scorer SIR RODERIC at a significantly bigger price (25/1 generally).

He was a seriously progressive three-year-old last season, winning five handicaps including the corresponding seven-furlong event that opens Saturday’s meeting.

He understandably struggled at the end of a busy campaign after rising to a mark of 97 and has taken his time to show anything in 2017, but his third over this course and distance three starts ago brings him right into the equation.

Held up in last that day, he made eyecatching progress on the bridle before filling a minor placing behind Laidback Romeo, while he was just a neck behind runner-up Greenside.

With Greenside winning so well since and Sir Roderic struggling in two subsequent outings, including when 2/1 favourite at Salisbury most recently, he comes into this race on 8lb better terms with the Candy runner.

He, too, is drawn close to the fence in stall three and while it takes a bit of a leap of faith backing him to return to top form in such a hot race, Sandown is the place for him to do it and he’s competitively handicapped off just 3lb higher than when last successful.

He beat the reopposing El Hayem by a length that day and Sir Michael Stoute’s charge is less than half the price despite being on identical terms here, so at the odds available it’s Rod Millman’s horse who appeals most.

The bet365 Old Newton Cup is the feature betting race at Haydock and it sees several rapidly-improving, middle-distance handicappers do battle.

Brorocco went into just about every notebook under the sun when fifth at Epsom, while Shraaoh looks potentially well treated if stepping up on his comeback effort at the same venue last month.

Big Country goes from strength to strength and Tony Martin’s Moonmeister is a fascinating contender under Jamie Spencer, but it may transpire that Spencer has ‘got off’ the winner having ridden Roger Charlton’s BLAKENEY POINT at Goodwood last month.

The four-year-old son of Sir Percy was a creditable fourth to Top Tug there which represented a very solid effort having disappointed favourite-backers in the Chester Cup.

He was hot property in Cheshire due to winning at Kempton the time before and it’s that piece of relatively recent evidence that makes him stand out on Saturday.

Given a forceful ride by Kieren Shoemark, he stayed on strongly to beat Higher Power by a length and a quarter. The second has obviously come out since to win last weekend’s Northumberland Plate and the third, Endless Acres, has also franked the form with an excellent second to Thomas Hobson at Royal Ascot.

The negatives with Blakeney Point are quite obvious in that he’s dropping back to a mile and a half for the first time since last summer having made his progress over staying trips, and he’s been handed a miserable-looking draw in stall 17.

However, with so many horses in opposition happiest when allowed to wait for a late run, it’s not hard to see Blakeney Point getting across into a prominent position and if Shoemark can kick on turning into the straight, he’s unlikely to be coming back to them on such a strong stayer.

It has been mentioned in dispatches by Charlton that the Ebor is the long-term goal for his four-year-old and if he’s to make the cut for that contest then he may well need to go up in the weights again so there’s nothing off-putting in regards to this contest not being the main objective, and it could be significant that the yard’s middle-distance/staying horses have been performing extremely well of late, including Second Step’s close second at Newmarket and Clowance One’s Kempton victory on Wednesday night.

The 22/1 on offer with Paddy Power looks too big and worthy of an each-way interest.

Posted at 1600 BST on 07/07/17.

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