Green for go as Williams targets repeat in Sandown showdown

There is a wealth of brilliant racing today, with Leopardstown staging four Grade One events and Sandown playing their part with the Virgin Bet Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase.

Unsurprisingly, Willie Mullins dominates all of the top-level races across the Irish Sea at the Dublin racing Festival this weekend to such an extent that he is just 10-1 to win all eight of the big ones.

Mullins has multiple entries in a number of the feature races which makes betting perilous, so GREEN BOOK (Sandown, nap, 2.55) may prove a more enticing proposition this afternoon.

I would expect Venetia Williams’s talented hurdler to leave behind a subdued comeback effort at Chepstow as he was returning from a breathing operation and was not afforded his normal aggressive ride that day.

Admittedly, he must reverse form with Flight Deck to the tune of 40 lengths, but the return to Sandown may be the catalyst to a better showing with the memory of his impressive success in today’s feature handicap vivid in the memory.

Although the six-year- old only prevailed by less than a length from Beauport last year, that winning margin was far from representative of his dominance from the turn from home.

It was at that point the selection moved serenely clear of a competitive field under jockey Charlie Deutsch.

The front two pulled eight lengths clear of the consistent Dans Le Vent on the climb to the line and, although a less than fluent leap at the final flight allowed Beauport to close, Green Book never seriously looked like folding.

hopefully, his Chepstow comeback has blown away the cobwebs and second time out following a wind operation can often be the best time to catch a horse who has experienced breathing issues in the past.