bet365 Gordon Richards Stakes |
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| Group 3, Sandown 14:25 £95,000 guaranteed, 4yo plus, 1m 1f 209y, Class 1  |
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1 Saddadd 2/1
2 King Of Cities 5/2
3 Almeric 15/8F
5 ran Distances: 1¾l, 5½l, 11l
Time: 2m 8.46s (slow by 1.46s)
Saddadd looks good on his return in the @bet365 Gordon Richards Stakes ✅ @Sandownpark @varianstable | @Raydawson101 pic.twitter.com/dPCRvhddVR
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) April 24, 2026
Saddadd delivered a performance of rising authority to run down King Of Cities and secure his most significant success to date.
Turning for home, the runner-up had the majority of his rivals under pressure as he passed the two-furlong marker in the hands of Ryan Moore, travelling with purpose and looking the likely winner. However, the 2/1 favourite was already closing, poised and within striking distance.
Ray Dawson produced Roger Varian’s charge with precision, sending him to the front inside the final furlong, and Saddadd responded generously, lengthening away to score by a length and three-quarters. Almeric followed some five and a half lengths further back in third.
In the immediate aftermath, Saddadd’s credentials were swiftly reassessed in the betting markets, trimmed to 16/1 from 50/1 for the Coolmore Coronation Cup by Paddy Power and Sky Bet, and to 20/1 from 66/1 for the Tattersalls Gold Cup.
Varian said: “He is an absolute darling of a horse. You only had to look at him in the paddock. He is asleep and laid back. He has got the most delightful attitude. He just reminds me of those good horses with a really good brain to go with it.
“He won like a really good horse here in August and although he ran at Goodwood the time after in a strong Listed race he was just not the same horse and I think he needed the winter.
“We sat on him a long time last year when the ground was very firm and although he didn’t run much last year, he had an elongated stretch of training and I think he was maybe just over the top at Goodwood
“I had a quick chat with Ray and he was pretty adamant that you don’t need to be moving the goal posts at this point as he was very comfortable at that trip today, and he quickened very well, so I should think we will stay at ten furlongs now.
“I’m sure that if we asked him he would stay a mile-and-a half as he is a very relaxed horse and he has a very relaxed style of running. When he won here last year off a big weight on soft ground he was doing his best work late on which suggested that a mile-and-a-half wouldn’t be beyond him. “He has wintered very well and he is a more mature horse this time around. I like how he put the race to bed today so I think we will stay at ten furlongs for now. We have him Group One entered, and he is a horse that we have always loved, so you have to dream that he can be a Group One horse, but his next race will tell us a bit more.
“I’d love to end up in a Champion Stakes as he handles cut in the ground and he will get better all year. We don’t know if he is Group One standard yet. You could safely say at the moment that wasn’t a Group One field. It was a strong select field, but not a Group One field.
“He has run well enough to deserve to be asked the question at some point. He is in the Tattersalls Gold Cup and I could see him enjoying the Curragh as a track, but does he need to tackle that bar just yet. We would love maybe to come back here for the Eclipse as he has won twice over course and distance.
“I’m quite settled at staying a mile-and-a-quarter so we either come back here under a penalty in the Brigadier Gerard or go for the Tattersalls Gold Cup.”
bet365 Gordon Richards Stakes
£95,000 guaranteed, 4yo plus, 1m 1f 209y, Class 1
5 ran
Going: Good, Good to Firm in places
