Simcock: Algometer in excellent order for return

7.35 Sandown
Matchbook Brigadier Gerard Stakes (Group 3) | 1m2f | 4yo+

Glorious weather and a fascinating card featuring a clutch of potential Royal Ascot aspirants should draw a bumper crowd to the premier evening meeting of the season – fondly known as ‘Brigadier Gerard night’ among racing aficionados – at Sandown.

This fixture, which traditionally falls just before the two-day Derby meeting, often unearths winners who have subsequently shone at Royal Ascot.

Although there is one major absentee, So Mi Dar, who was declared a non runner on Thursday morning due to an abnormal blood analysis, there is still plenty to look forward to.

In addition to the two Group 3 and two Listed races on the card which seem sure to produce Royal Ascot runners, there is a famous mile handicap, the £15,000 Whitsun Cup, which was once viewed by many trainers as a natural stepping stone to the Royal Hunt Cup.

Algometer, who was pitched into the Derby 12 months ago following a fluent victory in a Goodwood Listed event, looks just the type to enjoy a rewarding four-year-old campaign.

Subsequently successful in the Group 3 Arc Trial at Newbury, Alogometer ideally needs further, but is reported in excellent shape by trainer David Simcock ahead of contesting the Group 3 Brigadier Gerard Stakes.

“The trip is on the sharp side, but I need to get a run into him now,” he said. “He's in excellent order and I hope the ground is no quicker than good.”

Henry Candy had planned to give Chain Of Daisies her first outing of 2017 in the Middleton, but rain scuppered plans for a mare who hates soft ground.

The five-year-old showed progressive form last summer on a fast surface and wound up her campaign by flooring the Sir Michael Stoute-trained odds-on favourite Ulysses in Windsor’s Group 3 Winter Hill Stakes.

“She normally needs her first run, but goes to Sandown in very good form,” Candy said. “I hope the ground continues to dry out there and that she can run into a place.”

Stoute saddles Autocratic, who will be attempting to erase the memory of a disappointing effort at Newmarket last month when only sixth of seven in the Group 3 Earl of Sefton Stakes.

The winner of that race, Steel Of Madrid, represents the Richard Hannon stable, which is synonymous with success at this fixture, having dominated the Listed National Stakes over the past decade.

Steel Of Madrid landed the Earl of Sefton Stakes at Newmarket last monthCredit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

Fellow Newmarket handler Hugo Palmer has booked William Buick to partner Baydar, a course-and-distance scorer who progressed enormously in handicaps last season.

After beginning a winning sequence of four off a mark of 82 at Newmarket last June, the Rock Of Gibraltar colt now finds himself taking on far more exalted company from an official rating of 105.

Palmer said: “He is a course-and-distance winner, admittedly in far lower grade. It’s a strong race and he has a bit to find. However, he has improved from three to four and I hope there is more to come.”

David O’Meara’s Mondialiste, hero of the Grade 1 Arlington Million last August, and the Ed Dunlop-trained Red Verdon complete an eight-strong field.