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Saturday's ITV Racing Tips: Ben Linfoot's preview and selections for Goodwood and Sandown

Horse Racing

Fri August 28, 2026 · 1h ago

Our form expert has had a profitable August after Asgard's Captain (13/2), Rayif (13/2) and Plage De Havre (16/1) and he bids to end the month with a bang at Goodwood and Sandown.

The Verdict: Saturday August 29

1pt win Rhythm Of My Heart in 13:25 Goodwood at 8/1 (bet365, BetMGM, 15/2 General)

1pt win So Regal in 14:50 Sandown at 17/2 (bet365, 8/1 Paddy Power)

1pt e.w Alfred Wallace in 15:30 Sandown at 10/1 (bet365, William Hill 1/5 1,2,3)

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Regal bet in the Atalanta

The John & Thady Gosden yard have a super record in the Group 3 BetMGM Solario Stakes at Sandown, winning it seven times including with Raven’s Pass, Kingman, Too Darn Hot and Field Of Gold, but their two-year-olds are only just getting going and they don’t have a representative in the Sandown juvenile contest on Saturday.

They are in good form, though, and they could still have a nice winner on the card with SO REGAL who returns from a midsummer break in the Group 3 BetMGM Atalanta Stakes over a mile.

This looks an open contest, with Kon Tiki carrying a penalty and form horse Moon Target difficult to win with, giving a chance to a posse of fillies to get a valuable Group 3 win on their CV.

Calendar Girl and Secret Of Life are lightly-raced improvers who look likely to be in the mix, but they are disputing favouritism and So Regal can be filed in the same category and she's twice the price.

Perhaps it's because she’s the Cheveley Park second string, or maybe it’s because she hasn’t been seen since York in May, but whatever the reason the daughter of the aforementioned Kingman looks underestimated with her speed a vital weapon at this track.

She improved quickly in the spring, winning at Newmarket and Ascot before rocking up at York where she looked to have the Listed Sky Bet Fillies’ Stakes (Michael Seely) in the bag before William Haggas’ Lilt picked her pocket with a strong late run.

It was an excellent effort for a filly who had only shed her maiden tag a month earlier and she looks likely to have improved and possibly significantly so during her three and a half months off the track.

Her dam, Queen’s Trust, improved markedly in the second half of her three-year-old campaign and Gosden has an excellent record with his fillies at this level at this time of year when bringing them back off a break.

I don’t think she’ll mind any rain that falls and William Buick should get a good early prominent position from stall four, with a few in there likely to give her a nice lead into the race.

The Verdict: Back SO REGAL in the 14:50 Sandown

So Regal¹⁰⁶

Age: 3| Weight: 9-0| J: W Buick| T: J & T Gosden| OR: 101| D

Alfred Wallace a natural selection

In the Solario itself there are a handful of lightly-raced horses who have the potential to win at Group 3 level, but with a bit of rain around this has an eerily similar feel to last year when the form horse A Bit Of Spirit used every ounce of his experience to win a very close four-way battle.

Clive Cox’s horse had already run four times before the Solario and those with experience have a good record in this race with 11 winners this century having had three runs or more going into the contest.

It makes me think Ed Walker’s ALFRED WALLACE is a big price here at 10/1, as he has the best form in the contest and he has run six times, his best effort coming in victory in the Listed Pat Eddery at Ascot where the stiff seven suited him well.

I think he’ll enjoy this uphill finish and, while unproven on anything other than Good or Good to Firm, I don’t think he’ll mind any rain, either, considering his breeding (by Dubawi out of Snow Lantern).

Any extra emphasis on stamina will help him as he looked ready for a mile already when tapped for toe held up in the Acomb Stakes, and I’d imagine Kieran Shoemark will try and utilise the experience advantage much like Rossa Ryan did on last year’s winner.

Against three once-raced horses and two who have been out twice, Alfred Wallace’s nous could be key.

The Verdict: Back ALFRED WALLACE in the 15:30 Sandown

Alfred Wallace¹⁰

Age: 2| Weight: 9-3| J: K Shoemark| T: E Walker| OR: 104| D

I believe in a thing called love…

I’ve mentioned the possibility of rain a few times above but in truth there doesn’t look to be too much around at Sandown, perhaps 3-4mm, but it could be a different story at Goodwood.

Around 10mm is forecast on Saturday morning before racing and after 5mm of rain on Thursday, plus watering in the week, some heavy showers in a few hours could make a significant difference to conditions.

It puts me off betting in the very difficult looking handicaps, as they could come stands’ side if it gets in, or they could be strewn out all over the track, and I’d want to see the effect of the weather on the ground before committing to a bet.

I do want to roll the dice in the opening British Stallion Studs EBF Fillies' Restricted Novice Stakes, though, as there could be some significant improvement to come from David Menuisier’s RHYTHM OF MY HEART.

Menuisier has an excellent record at Goodwood at this time of year, including with seven juveniles who have won on their second starts at this track in August and September, and Rhythm Of My Heart caught the eye on debut at Kempton.

She ran a cracker in second, especially given the winner did her for speed when better positioned off a moderate pace, and I would expect Menuisier’s filly to come forward plenty from that run.

The step up in trip to a mile looks a major positive here, as she’s bred for middle distances next season (her dam won the Lillie Langtry at this track), and with that in mind any extra emphasis on stamina due to the rain could well be in her favour, too.