Sandown hosts one of its mixed cards this Saturday with a mix of top drawer flat and jumps action.  Many eyes will be trained on Iris De Balme to see whether he can follow up his remarkable Scottish Grand National win with victory in the bet365 Gold Cup Chase.  However, I would prefer to pay attention to the flat element on the card which features a major mile race and a Derby trial.  Sir Michael Stoute has a fantastic 42% strike rate with his older horses at Sandown which bodes well for the return of Rob Roy.  A highly talented individual he was last seen on these shores finishing runner-up to the admiral filly Pride in the Dubai Champion Stakes over 10 furlongs at Newmarket.  He then disappeared off to America where the rock-hard ground of the west coast was found not to his liking.  He’s reportedly been in good form since his return and could make a bold bid to recapture the race he successfully claimed in 2006.  Away at Leicester they stage a decent Listed race which features the usual mixture of sprinters.  Al Qasi finished last year well beaten out in Hong Kong but before that he had run Miss Lucifer close in a Newmarket Group Two as well as putting up some more than useful performances in a wide variety of top races.  He has his closest rival Eisteddfod held on that Newmarket second and looks set to run close.

Selections – 3.50 Leicester, 1 Al Qasi

                                                                   3.55 Sandown, 6 Rob Roy