Tidal Bay can defy topweight in Sandown season closer

By Stephen, bettingexpert.com | Edited 10:19 28.04.2012

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Paul Nicholls quirky veteran Tidal Bay can give weight and a beating to his rivals in Sandown's featured Bet 365 Gold Cup Handicap at 3.10 this afternoon.

The 11-y-o can take little interest and go in snatches, but he is reunited with Grand National winning jockey Daryl Jacob pitched into this warm handicap and is fancied to assert up the hill on the eased ground. He was far from disgraced over hurdles behind Big Bucks last time and showed when second to Midnight Chase in the Argento that he is well capable when the mood takes him.

Main danger for the £150,000 prize money comes from Alan King's progressive West End Rocker. He was fancied by many good judges to go well in the Grand National but made an uncharacteristic early blunder and paid the price over those unforgiving fences. He showed a stamina test held no terrors when winning the Becher Chase by a wide margin and the recent heavy rain has come just in time.

Emma Lavelle's Ouzbeck has been a model of consistency without winning, and showed this trip is within his compass when a highly encouraging second to Ikorodu Road in a valuable Newbury handicap last time. However he has not won since June 2010 and his very best efforts have come when the ground rides on the fast side of good.

Richard Lee's Le Beau Bai bypassed the National to wait for this prize and should be freshened up by a 70 day break. He is a thorough stayer who jumps well, and landed the Coral Welsh National at Chepstow in December. On the negative side he now figures on a career high mark after such a productive season and may be in the handicappers grip.

At a bigger price Rare Bob may outrun his odds with Paddy Brennan in the saddle for the first time. He was fancied for the Grand National but suffered the misfortune to be brought down at the fifth. Soft ground is ideal and he will be staying on when plenty others have cried enough.

In summary, a fiercely competitve renewal that brings the curtain down on the NH season. Tidal Bay is moody and hard to win with, but he has the perfect pilot up to coax a big run out of him and may just relish giving lumps of weight away to inferiors. At around 12-1 this morning he represents excellent each-way value to assert up the Sandown hill.

Stephen's Saturday Nap Thought Worthy 4.15 Sandown

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