Thursday’s Brigadier Gerard card at Sandown represents the finest evening racing fixture currently on offer anywhere in the United Kingdom.
The feature Group Three Star Sports Brigadier Gerard Stakes is scheduled to go off at 7.12pm, giving office workers enough time to catch quality horses competing in the evening sunshine.
The undisputed headline act is Ombudsman, trained by John and Thady Gosden, who has won seven of his ten career races and accumulated over £4.1 million in prize earnings.
He chased home Calandagan, Timeform’s highest-rated horse in Europe, in the Group One Champions Stakes at Ascot in October before winning the Group One Dubai Turf at Meydan in March.
Ombudsman sits well clear of his five rivals on ratings and appears likely to encounter his optimal fast ground conditions at Sandown on Thursday evening.
However, it remains a concern that he has been beaten on both previous appearances at the Sandown track, raising questions about his suitability there.
He lost to Almaqam in this same race last year on his seasonal return and then went down by a neck to Delacroix in a driving finish to the Eclipse.
With a series of major targets scheduled across the summer, this run may not find Ombudsman at the absolute peak of his powers.
Gethin, trained by Owen Burrows, arrives on the back of a comfortable Listed win at Kempton in April, potentially giving him a fitness advantage over his primary market rival.
Burrows has long considered his grey to be of Group One class, and Gethin receives a handy seven pounds from Ombudsman in this contest.
On ratings he still has ground to make up, but with only six career starts this is a horse who should continue to improve significantly with experience.
At 5/2 with sponsors Star Sports, Gethin appeals considerably more than odds-on Ombudsman from a value perspective, making him the selection for the feature race.
In the earlier Listed Star Sports Heron Stakes at 6.42pm, Talk Of New York immediately catches the eye as a compelling selection on the card.
He is available at 11/8 with Star Sports but has shown himself to be highly talented across his three starts to date.
Talk Of New York blitzed rivals by over five lengths in his maiden at Kempton in October before finishing second behind last weekend’s German 2000 Guineas winner Title Holder in Listed company in Dubai.
Having been too keen in that Dubai contest, running second was an impressive effort, and he made amends at Newmarket wearing a first-time hood, winning comfortably.
The application of that headgear appeared to help him travel much more smoothly, and a repeat of that effect at Sandown would make him extremely difficult to beat.
With three other Godolphin runners in the line-up, the plan is likely to involve setting a strong gallop, which should play directly to Talk Of New York’s strengths.
Talk Of New York looks capable of developing into Charlie Appleby’s star three-year-old of the season, and despite Yazin representing a worthy rival, he looks the one to be on.