Ed Chamberlin: Sandown storm | The ITV Racing presenter reflects on a dramatic day

Sandown was meant to be the calm before the storm of the Cheltenham Festival next week, but we had a storm right from the off on Saturday after farcical circumstances after the first live race.

That was the E.B.F. Final, where One For Rosie was judged to have beaten Third Wind, only for the result to be overturned, following a significant length of time, because it was judged on the wrong photo.

I’m never a fan of two winning posts and yet again we had utter confusion after the race. Hats off to our commentator Mark Johnson who was straight in my ear saying ‘they’ve got this wrong’, so we were on it immediately.

But, we were confused. I had no idea it was because of the second winning post, but there’s no way the judge should be confused.

Humans make errors, but, as far as I understand there is now a check and double check system in operation and, after what’s already been a bad week for the bookmaking industry, which has been damaged because of the aftermath of the closure of Bet Bright, this is the last thing they needed before Cheltenham.

This is different to the Bet Bright situation, but, nevertheless, the trust between bookie and punter was damaged during the week and mistakes of the like we saw at Sandown today have to be eradicated.

I feel most sorry for the bookmakers at Sandown, as there was no information in the aftermath of the incorrect result being called at the track at all. It was fine for the people watching on TV, but nothing over the loud speaker system at the track and I can totally understand why the on-course bookies paid out before the weighed in announcement.

You’ve got queues forming and an afternoon of sport quickly moving onto the next race – there’s a pressure to pay out in that situation and they’re the ones that suffer.

I know there are difficulties with the angles involved, but please, can we find a way to have one finishing post at Sandown? That’s what I’d like to come out of all of this.

That overshadowed what was a fun afternoon at Sandown Park and the Paul Nicholls juggernaut continues to purr. Malaya was a really good winner of the Imperial Cup but I’d be surprised if they went for the £100,000 bonus in the County Hurdle judging by reaction afterwards.

Team Nicholls could not be in better form, though, ahead of the Cheltenham Festival with some big guns to fire next week.

And now Cheltenham looms large on the horizon.

Our preparation for ITV for the Festival began in early November, our starts for the shows are planned, our features are done and in the can, and I’m particularly excited about a feature we’ve done celebrating the 25 year anniversary of Danoli, a horse that had the whole of Ireland celebrating at Cheltenham.

We could see similar scenes on Friday if Presenting Percy wins the Magners Gold Cup, and I think he probably will.

The race of the week is on day one with a Champion Hurdle that has everything. A Champion Hurdler looking to make history, two top-class mares trying to steal his crown, fascinating tactics, it’s got the lot and it’s going to be a blockbuster at 3.30pm on Tuesday.

Before that we have the Sky Bet Supreme which has one of my bets of the week. If the rain arrives on Monday and Tuesday morning Gordon Elliott’s Vision D’honneur is going to run a big race at a big price.

Three wishes

My three wishes for next week are as follows.

One. Paisley Park wins the Stayers’ Hurdle for owner Andrew Gemmell. I defy anyone watching not to have a tear in their eye if they see Andrew, who has been blind since birth, celebrating as he listens to the commentary.

Two. I’d love to see old warrior Un De Sceaux run a big race in the Ryanair. This horse epitomises everything that’s good about National Hunt racing and why, despite all the bad stories we’ve had lately, people will tune in and in huge numbers both on the track and watching on ITV, because people love seeing these great jumpers come back over and over again.

If the rain arrives he’ll run huge.

Three. Go on the Tiger! (Roll, not Tap Tap, obviously).

I can’t wait now and I bet you can’t either. Best of luck to everyone at the Festival. What a week of sport we have in store.