Sandown racing tips: Best bets and odds for Saturday’s jumps season finale

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We bid farewell to the 2025/26 jumps season at Sandown on Saturday with a high-quality card, from which I’ve selected five runners as my Saturday racing tips.

Beaten just once in his juvenile season, MINELLA YOGA is taken to win again in a race that has treated four-year-olds well in its short history.

Three of the seven previous winners have represented the age group and, although the selection’s trainer Paul Nicholls has twice won it with six-year-olds in that period, he clearly knows the type needed to win this.

Minella Yoga won on testing ground on debut when trained in Ireland but both his wins for ‘Team Ditcheat’ have been on a sound surface and he’ll get that again on Saturday. That sole defeat was no disgrace, coming as it did in a Cheltenham Grade 2 on trials day, when he finished 3l third behind Maestro Conti.

The winner that day was trained by Dan Skelton, who’ll both receive the trainers’ title trophy on the day, as well as have a decent gauge what the favourite Kadastral is up against.

Minella Yoga was entitled to win his latest race easily, as an odds-on favourite and he duly dotted up. A 4lb rise for that eased down 10l success does not look harsh and unless this is one run too far for the season, he looks likely to be well treated off a mark of 132. We can take the each-way option on betting sites in what is a 19-runner field.

Sandown tip 1: Minella Yoga – 1pt each-way @ 13/2 (bet365)

Paul Nicholls has decent claims on a double early on the Sandown card with MATTERHORN, who goes in this Grade 2 contest over an extended 2m6f.

Blow Your Wad is officially the best in this field and has been made favourite accordingly. My selection is rated 5lb inferior. Gary & Josh Moore’s market leader on betting apps has been keeping some very good company and deserved to win his first race for the yard at his fourth attempt, when outclassing his field at Chepstow last time (2m3f, good to soft).

Beaten less than 2l in the Ultima at last month’s Cheltenham Festival, he is proven over that 3m1f trip. However, I think he might be at his best with some juice in the ground and my selection appears to prefer good going to produce his optimum.

He won over 2m3f as a hurdler and 2m4f as a chaser last spring and he has a good strike rate of 5-11 over fences. He’s unexposed over this new trip and pedigree gives him a chance of seeing it out, so I’d like to take on the ‘jolly’ with him.

Sandown tip 2: Matterhorn – 1pt win @ 10/3 (William Hill)

He’s won two Tingle Creeks and two previous renewals of this and JONBON can raise the roof at the Esher track by maintaining his wonderful record over C&D (five wins and two seconds from seven starts) with further success.

He’s obviously now gone ten years of age and I don’t think he’ll get an easy ride with Thistle Ask and Solness, who ran a cracker in the Melling Chase at Aintree last time, in opposition.

However, he comes back to this trip after both a win and a reverse over further and Nicky Henderson has him cherry ripe again after a six-week break. He’ll take all the beating.

Sandown tips 3: Jonbon – 2pts win @ 13/8 (William Hill)

The heavy ground at Ayr last week meant that we didn’t get a run with MONTREGARD, who carries the JP McManus green and gold but I am sticking with him to take this instead.

Trainer Tom Lacey has his string in good form and this seven-year-old has really improved during the past 12 months, winning three of his five starts in that period.

As was the case last week, the unknown is his ability to get this trip but this is half a mile shorter than the Scottish National, so there’s more chance of him getting home.

We do know that he acts on a sound surface, he’s progressive and, if the form of his latest win in an Ascot Grade 3 is anything to go by, he certainly looks well treated off just a 4lb higher mark.

An each-way interest on horse racing betting sites is suggested, with one or two others in the field who may still be well treated but if he’s at his best, I’d be happy with my selection against them.

Sandown tip 4: Montregard – 1pt each-way @ 11/2 (bet365)

A big field assembles for the season’s finale and this can bring a deserved success for FAVOUR AND FORTUNE.

Alan King’s eight-year-old is 3-12 over hurdles and has run some very good races in ultra-competitive handicap hurdles when not winning. They include his latest effort, when third at Aintree for a second successive year behind Wellington Arch.

This trip and good ground or slower suit him down to the ground and he is taken to land this despite the burden of 12st on his back, with nothing else jumping off the page as being massively unexposed.

Sandown tip 5: Favour And Fortune – 1pt win @ 7/1 (William Hill)

Each Saturday, Virgin Bet runs a money-back offer on one of the races shown on live ITV Racing that day.

If you decide to have a wager on that race and your selection doesn’t win, you’ll receive your stake back in free bets.

There’s no need to opt in to the offer, just place a wager on the race and if your selection doesn’t win, you’ll receive a free bet refund, up to a maximum of £10.

Only the win part of any each-way bets will be credited back to Virgin Bet punters.

If you plan to have a bet on the racing, make sure to gamble responsibly.

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Even the most knowledgeable racing punter can lose a bet, so always stick to a budget and never chase your losses.

It’s particularly important not to get carried away by any free bets or casino bonuses you might receive, both of which are available in abundance on gambling sites, but must be approached with caution.

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