Fast horses to the fore as Sandown stages three top-class races over two miles

There aren't many racedays in the depths of winter of which one can honestly say: "This is all about speed". But that's how it is at Sandown on Saturday afternoon when we will be served not one, not two, but three top-class races over two miles, a consequence of the Fighting Fifth being saved from Newcastle's cancelled card last weekend.

True, Sandown is not the most speed-favouring of jumps tracks when the rain sets in, as it may do on raceday morning. The winter virtues, including courage and endurance, are going to be required for all of Saturday's winners. But pace will still be essential in those feature races.

We can hope to see these chasers really wing down the back straight in both the Tingle Creek and its novice equivalent, the Henry VIII. Any misjudgement of the famous Railway fences will come at a serious cost to momentum – and, one of the most attractive things about Sandown, the runners never get too far away from the stands, so spectators can follow them almost all the way around the circuit with the naked eye.