3.30 Sandown: Eva's Oskar 'in great shape' to back up career-best Cheltenham win

Since teenager Eric's Charm won the Masters in 2011, no veteran has won the race and five of the ten winners have been aged six or seven. That is an eyebrow-raising stat for an open handicap held in early February.

Lots of young horses are aimed at the Masters. Of the 96 runners since Eric's Charm won, 27 have been six or seven. That still does not adequately explain the trend, as their strike-rate is 19 per cent compared with an average of 10 per cent (impact value 1.78). Although if we consider all horses that have finished in the first three then six- and seven-year-olds perform only slightly better than par.

It is fair to infer from those stats that the edge young horses hold in the Masters is on the basis that they are unexposed, and often this will be their first meeting with older handicappers.

This year's field is a little older than average and certainly more experienced. Eva's Oskar has improved in premier handicaps at Cheltenham on his last two starts. Rapper looked a completely different animal fitted with cheekpieces at the same course last time. Equus Dancer is on a hat-trick, albeit one that started in the summer of 2021.

One to note at big odds is Flegmatik, who ran a fine race at Ascot on reappearance and was not the only Skelton horse to flop over Christmas when last seen.
Race analysis by Keith Melrose

Eva's Oskar 'in great shape'

Eva’s Oskar, winner of seven of his 25 races, tackles this £50,000 stamina-test on the back of a career-best performance at Cheltenham in December.

Trainer Tim Vaughan is hopeful there could be even more to come from the nine-year-old at a stiff track which should suit.

“He has enjoyed a great season so far, and is in great shape at home,” Vaughan said. “He has never been to Sandown before, but he has run well at Ascot and the two tracks are not dissimilar, both having steep, uphill finishes.”

Eva’s Oskar is only 3lb higher than when beating Spiritofthegames by half a length under 11st 12lb at Cheltenham, and seems to be getting better with age.

“He’s a well-bred animal and just seems to have come of age,” Vaughan added. “He had a good summer after he won at Exeter last year. Our horses as a whole seem in good form, and that obviously helps too.”

What they say

Sandy Thomson, trainer of Empire Steel
Off a mark of 143 he should be competitive. I would love to see him go up a couple of pounds and ensure a place in the Grand National.

Henry Daly, trainer of Rapper
The cheekpieces undoubtedly helped him travel through the race at Cheltenham last time. It was definitely a career-best from him, and hopefully they will have a similar effect on Saturday.

Dan Skelton, trainer of Flegmatik
He likes going right-handed and I think he just about stays three miles. He’s yet to fire properly this season and was a bit disappointing over Christmas, but the nice ground should suit him.

Gary Moore, trainer of Larry
Larry has his fair share of weight, but he likes Sandown. He goes there with every chance.

Nicky Henderson, trainer of Emir Sacree
He won over fences twice last season and I think he shaped much better than his finishing position at Hereford last time. He’s in good order and ready to go again.

Venetia Williams, trainer of Laskalin
It’s a step up in class. He went well on Ludlow good to soft, so I’m hopeful he'll handle drier conditions. There's no reason why he won’t like Sandown.

Paul Nicholls, trainer of Broken Halo
He's been a little bit out of form this season, although he made a mistake at the wrong time in the Grand Sefton and got knocked out of it and then two miles three was too short for him on too quick ground at Chepstow. This will be better for him and he's capable of running well.
Reporting by Richard Birch

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