Horse Racing - National Hunt Courses - Sandown

Located in the leafy Surrey suburb of Esher, Sandown Park stages top quality racing on the flat and over jumps throughout the year. The course has three distinct highlights; the Bet365 Gold Cup in April, the Eclipse Stakes in July and the Tingle Creek Chase in December.

The Bet365 Gold Cup, originally run as the Whitbread Gold Cup, is the feature race on the last Saturday in April, a fixture which heralds the end of the National Hunt season and also includes the Grade 1 Celebration Chase.

Sandown’s sole Group 1 race in the Coral-Eclipse, which is run over a mile and a quarter in early July and invariably attracts a top quality field, as is highlighted just by looking at the roll-of-honour since 2000, which includes star performers Giant’s Causeway, Falbrav, Sea The Stars, Nathaniel and Golden Horn.



The Tingle Creek Chase holds similar status over jumps as it is the natural target for any top two-mile chaser. The Grade 1 contest, held in early December, has star three-milers Desert Orchid and Kauto Star among its winners alongside Viking Flagship, Flagship Uberalles, Moscow Flyer, Maser Minded, Sizing Europe, Sprinter Sacre, Sire De Grugy and Sprinter Sacre – each of whom when on to win the Queen Mother Champion Chase.

Characteristics

Right handed, galloping, 1m 5f, run-in of 300y.

Regarded as the one of the best jumping tests for chasers in the country, thanks chiefly to the seven fences in the back straight, the last three of which are situated close together; however, has one of the lowest casualty rates, fallers in the home straight being very rare.

Hurdles course often more testing than chase one during winter months, with gruelling conditions sometimes the order of the day.

Front runners more favoured on the chase track, where it can regularly prove hard to make up ground when conditions place the emphasis on speed.

Right handed
Uphill

Big fences

None