Sandown Mile Betting

Held each year in April, the Sandown Mile was inaugurated in 1985 to be one of the central events of the first day the annual Easter Festival conducted at Sandown Park in Esher, Surrey. It is a Group 2 flat race that covers a distance of one mile and fourteen yards over a right-handed turf track. Entry is open to Thoroughbred horses aged four years and upwards, providing an exciting betting opportunity for lovers of route racing action.

Staging fixtures since 1875, the Sandown Park Racecourse was the U.K’s first fully enclosed course and has gained a reputation for famous horse racing contests. It attracts the very best competition in jump and flat racing, both of which are featured at the Festival, along with live music, gala parties, and a bounty of Easter fashion on parade.

For much of its quarter century, the Sandown Mile has been a sponsored event. Title rights have been held by Trusthouse Forte, At the Races, and betfred over the years, and the present sponsor is bet365, whose support for the race began in 2008. Currently, the total prize purse is worth £100,000, with over £56,000 going to the winner.

Runners in the Sandown Mile carry nine stone, with allowances of three pounds for fillies and mares. Penalties are also applied to horses finishing first in meetings since August 31 of the preceding year, amounting to six pounds for Group 1 winners and four pounds for Group 2 winners.

A number of high quality winners have left their mark on the Sandown Mile. Pebbles, the first British-bred horse to win the Breeder’s Cup (1985), was this race’s very first champion, ridden by the famed Steve Cauthen. The born-in-Kentucky jockey went on to three more victories here, including successful trips on Reprimand in 1989, In The Groove in 1991, and Rudimentary in 1992.

Rider Frankie Dettori has won the Sandown Mile three times. His first victory came in 1990 on Markofdistinction, which was followed up after a nine-year hiatus with a win on Handsome Ridge in 1999. Then, another eight years further on, Dettori made the grade again, riding across the line first in 2007 on the favourite, Sir Michael Stoute’s four-year-old Jeremy.

The most successful mounts at the Sandown Mile have been the 2004-2005 winner Hurricane Alan and the currently reigning champion Paco Boy, with triumphs in 2009 and 2010. Among trainers, one name stands out above all others—Richard Hannon, who was responsible for both of those double winners plus Major Cadeaux in 2008. Richard Hughes rode for Hannon in the three most recent wins.

Top rated horses tend to fare well at the Sandown Mile. The favourite has prevailed in three of the most recent four meetings and five of the last ten. Payouts at single-digit odds are the rule rather than the exception. The last double-digit winner was Nicobar in 2001 paying 16/1, and it was no fluke that a great rider was in the saddle that day—Kieren Fallon.

For the 2011 edition, Dick Turpin came into Easter weekend as the 11/10 favourite, followed by Cityscape (5/1), Dream Eater (6/1), Kingsfort (7/1), and Music Show (7/1). As the sponsor, bet365 has something of a lock on the odds making, so it pays to check them first when considering a wager on the Sandown Mile. They offer a 100% deposit bonus of up to £zero for new betting accounts opened prior to the race.

Go To bet365

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