Four reasons why Brigadier Gerard night is such a big draw

Thursday's Brigadier Gerard evening is a firm favourite with many racing fans – and here's why

High-quality racing
With two Group 3 races, a pair of Listed contests and a couple of competitive handicaps, Brigadier Gerard night is the best-quality evening meeting in the calendar.

Popular stayer Big Orange will be one of the star attractions on display, while there is a strong possibility we will see a star of the future in the National Stakes. Only five juveniles have been declared but four won last time out and connections will be dreaming of Royal Ascot.

The weather is brilliant
You can't guarantee good weather every year – as those who watched Sharestan slog home in the 2014 Brigadier Gerard will testify – but racegoers on Thursday will be treated to glorious sunshine, with the temperature set to reach 25C.

What better way to spend the evening than watching high-class racing at one of Britain's premier tracks in beautiful weather? Let's just hope the forecasters haven't got it wrong!

You don't have to take the day off
With Esher just a 20-minute train journey from London Waterloo, making it in time for the first race – which is off at 6pm – is a realistic prospect for many people in the capital. Sandown even put the least valuable of the six races on first, so it's still well worth coming even if you can't quite make it for 6pm.

A fantastic setting
There is surely no finer walk from station to racecourse than the one at Sandown. The leisurely stroll from Esher station takes you via the famous Railway fences and across the centre of the course, allowing racing enthusiasts to get nostalgic about famous Tingle Creeks of the past, while also playing clerk of the course by testing the going.

Three stars on show

Chain Of Daisies (7.35)
Winner of six of her 13 starts, Chain Of Daisies has been slowly improving and made another huge step up last time when beating Ulysses – who went on to win the Gordon Richards Stakes – in the Winter Hill Stakes. She tends to race from the front with her heart on her sleeve and it will take a tough horse to pass her now So Mi Dar is an absentee.

Big Orange (7.05)
The globe-trotting Big Orange has run at a number of racecourses around the world but, surprisingly, has yet to appear at Sandown. Known for possessing a never-say-die attitude and stamina in abundance, he should find Sandown's stiff finish plays to his strengths and the fact he escapes a penalty, while his main rival on form must concede 7lb, is a boost to his chances.

Frozen Angel (6.30)
A £165,000 purchase, Frozen Angel didn't make the sort of start connections might have hoped for when trailing home last of nine on his debut at Newmarket. However, Tom Dascombe's juvenile made remarkable progress to beat a speedy, well-regarded rival at Ascot, where he hit the line strongly having made all. That performance was one of the best posted by a two-year-old this season and he is a leading contender for the Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Sandown Thursday card