Sandown Racing Tips for May 31 – Sir Chartwell to tough it out in the Sandown Cup

Here are our best bets from the meeting, which also features in our wider coverage of racing from around Australia in our Sunday tips.

Straand Deal can make it back to back wins when he steps out in Race 5. The promising four-year-old has had the six career starts for three wins and scored over the 2000m in a BenchMark 66 at Morphettville in early May. Prior to that, he did a couple of things wrong in a Saturday race at Caulfield in BenchMark 74 company when probably a run short with a 7th over the 2000m but he was only three lengths away and the form out of that has been solid since. The Lloyd Kennewell-trained galloper should be at peak fitness now after three runs and will appreciate a track that will have some give in it. Mark Zahra rides and strikes at 23% for the stable, providing a 34% profit on investment. 

We stretch out over the Melbourne Cup distance of the 3200m for the Listed Sandown Cup and a few of these come out of the Andrew Ramsden Stakes (2800m) at Flemington recently. Thought the effort of Sir Chartwell to place 3rd was full of merit that day, sitting on the speed in a big field and in a high pressure race before sticking on well to go down by only a lengths to Zakouma. The Anabel Neasham and Rob Archibald-trained galloper has not won since coming over to Australia but does look to have found some form and the extra distance should only suit the five-year-old, who was placed at Group 3 level in France over the 3000m just prior to heading here. He is the one they have to catch in the straight. 

Some handy types line up in BenchMark 70 grade in Race 7 and Cherish Me should be ready to produce at her third run back from a spell. She drops down from Saturday grade and was back over the unsuitable 1200m on a very slow tempo at Caulfield when 9th back in April before being posted wide no cover throughout when 5th behind Jewel Of Heaven. The Ciaron Maher-trained mare drops in grade and will find this easier, while she will strip fitter from the runs at Caulfield. With even luck from barrier 10, she can take this out.