Eric's Charm honoured with Sandown race

POPULAR chaser Eric's Charm, a three-time winner at Sandown including the London National in 2009, will be recognised  by the track on Friday with the first running of the Eric's Charm Handicap Chase.

Trained by Oliver Sherwood, Eric's Charm was fatally injured in a veterans' chase at Newbury last March having won at Sandown the month before.

In a career spanning 42 starts with 12 victories and nearly £200,000 in prize-money, Eric's Charm had ten starts at the Esher venue, finishing in the first three eight times.

Sherwood said: "It is an honour to have a race named after Eric's Charm. He was a very special horse and loved Sandown -  he was as tough a horse as I have trained."

Andrew Cooper, director of racing at Sandown,  added: "Eric's Charm became a real favourite with our racegoers and clearly excelled here - it is a pleasure to name a race after him."