Copperhead to roll back years and land battle of the veterans at Sandown

The brief lull in the National Hunt season between the busy Christmas schedule and the start of the trials for the big spring festivals gives some of the sport’s older hands a chance to chase a valuable prize in the Unibet Veterans’ Series Handicap Chase Final at Sandown, and while this year’s renewal has drawn a smaller field than usual, the nine runners bring plenty of high-class form to the fray.

Eldorado Allen and Copperhead, who run for Joe Tizzard’s in-form stable, both have Grade Two wins over fences to their name, while Chambard was a 40-1 winner of the Kim Muir Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham festival in 2022 and Sam Brown took the valuable three-mile handicap on Grand National day at Aintree the same year.

Smarty Wild and Remastered – the runner-up in the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury in 2022 – are other familiar names that many punters will remember with affection, but when it comes to picking the likeliest winner, the strong challenge from the Tizzard yard is impossible to ignore.

Both Copperhead and Eldorado Allen ran solid prep races for this tilt at a £50,000 prize when second and third respectively over two-and-a-half miles at Cheltenham last month, and both should improve for the return to three miles on Saturday.

Copperhead (3.00) finished four lengths in front of his stable companion there and is 3lb worse off for their rematch, but the former winner of the Reynoldstown Novice Chase at Ascot also has strong recent form over course and distance in November, while Freddie Gingell, the season’s leading conditional, takes off a valuable 3lb.

Sandown 1.50: The drop back to two-and-a-half miles is a positive for the headstrong Jupiter Du Gite, who virtually bolted with Freddie Mitchell over three miles at this course last time out and did well to finish only six lengths behind the winner in the circumstances. If he can settle slightly better, then a price of around 7-1 could be generous given the Gary Moore stable’s excellent track record.

Wincanton 2.05: Surely one of the weaker events to receive ITV coverage in 2025, but Our Dylan can at least boast a decent strike-rate with three wins and three places on his last half-dozen starts, and a 7lb rise for his latest success is mostly offset by Josh Newman’s claim.

Sandown 2.25: The time of Della Casa Lunga’s handicap success at Kempton eight days ago suggests that she took a significant step forward after a wind operation and her front-running style should be as effective back at two-and-a-half miles.

Wincanton 2.40: Having officially reached 10 years of age four days ago, Nocte Volatus is now qualified for this veterans’ event but he is still capable of very decent form in all-aged company, as he showed when finishing around eight lengths behind Gemirande – the December Gold Cup winner at Cheltenham next time up – at Ascot in November. He races off the same mark here and Cameron Iles’s 7lb claim is another plus.

Wincanton 3.15: The most interesting runner here is Ninth Loch, picked up for around £20,000 by Harry Derham from the Noel George & Amanda Zetterholm operation after a claimer at Auteuil in November. Leading Jersey-based jockey Victoria Malzard takes the reins and is looking to further improve her record of five wins from just 13 rides in the UK since the start of the 2023-24 season.

Sandown 3.35: Aurigny Mill was hampered by an early faller at Ascot last time and never a factor subsequently, but he would have a much better chance than early odds of around 10-1 might suggest if anywhere close to the form of his debut for Robert Walford’s stable at Newbury in November.