Key Points
- Today’s horse racing betting tip is well handicapped, and drops to 0-135 company
- This horse will surely improve based on his reappearance race at Newbury
- Freddie Keighley takes a valuable 7lbs off his weight, which could make all the difference
On New Year’s Day, we kicked off 2026 with a profitable selection in the form of New Order at 9/1. He ran a cracker, and looked the winner, even trading 1.6 on the Exchange, but unfortunately he couldn’t hold off the challengers up the Cheltenham hill, finishing in third place, but rewarding us with place money nonetheless. I have another fantastic-looking each way bet for you today. This one runs at Sandown and he’s priced at a huge 14/1.
If you’re new here, welcome! I’m RacingGav and I’ve been the resident horse racing tipster at Betting.co.uk since March 2025. My main focus is providing
free horse racing tips, both daily and antepost. To date, my betting tips have been very successful, and long may that continue.
This is my serious bet for today, and the one that will go into my official profit and loss record. However, if you’re looking for more betting tips for today’s horse racing, specifically the races that will be televised on ITV today, be sure to check out my Lucky 15 bet too. That one will go live a little later this morning.
Betting advice
- 13:15 Sandown -
Sonigino
@ 14/1 (3 places) -
0.75pt each way
bet365 is offering 14/1 and ÂŁ30 in free bets for new sign ups!
At the time of writing, Sonigino is generally priced up at around 12/1, or 11/1 with some bookies. However, bet365 are sticking their neck out and offering 14/1, which would be rude to ignore! This is not a one off either, bet365 regularly offers the
best horse racing odds. Not to mention that if you’re a new customer and bet £10, you’ll get £30 of free bets. bet365 consistently provides a great service, so if you don’t already have an account there, I suggest you change that right away.
On New Year’s Day, Paul Nicholls enjoyed three winners, and one of those was Toothless. He was only Toothless by name though, as he battled on strongly to win well at Windsor. That was his second run after a lengthy absence and he improved significantly for his reappearance run. I think Sonigino will bring a similar story here - a significant improvement second time out after an absence. In the next parts of this article, I’ll explain my logic in more detail.
Sonigino will surely improve for his recent reappearance
At the end of November, Sonigino returned from a 596 day absence during which time he had wind surgery. His reappearance run came at Newbury, and it was labelled as “disappointing” by some, but I have to disagree with that stance. He was sent off at 33/1, which made it very evident to me that he was expected to improve for it, clearly indicating that it would not be his day. Although finishing 12th, beaten by nearly 63 lengths is a bad run on paper, the reality was far from that.
He took a keen hold early on, which was never going to help his cause. However, he travelled down to the third last supremely well and held on in fourth, which was very eye-catching. Sadly, the combination of his early enthusiasm, his evident lack of race fitness, and a bad mistake at the third last, saw him empty his tank thereafter. But, I don’t think the face value of the form is what he should be judged on.
After such a long absence, I’m sure Paul wanted that first run under Sonigino’s belt. Since then, Paul will have had plenty to work on, and that run hopefully knocked the freshness out of Soningo, and he’ll be easier to settle today. If so, we could see a completely different horse at Sandown to the one we saw at Newbury, and he will take a huge step forward here
Sonigino is well handicapped now, and drops to 0-135 company
Sonigino’s peak effort was in December 2023 at Aintree, where he won a valuable Class 2 Handicap by six lengths off a mark of 137, producing a RPR of 143. The handicapper subsequently increased his mark to 143, and he struggled to compete in subsequent races at Kempton in January, and then at both the Cheltenham and Aintree Festivals in the spring. That was the last we saw of him last season.
His reappearance race at Newbury was a very competitive 15-runner Class 2 Handicap, for horses rated 0-145. That was a very tough ask for him first time out after a lengthy absence. However, as already mentioned, I don’t think the plan was for Sonigino to win that day, I feel it was to blow the cobwebs away. As a by-product of that, he has dropped from 135 to 132, and now sneaks into 0-135 company. I think he has the class to blow this level of competition away, assuming he is back to his best, and hopefully that will be the case!
Freddie Keighley takes a valuable 7lbs off Sonigino’s back and that could make the difference
The downside to dropping down into this company is that Sonigino will carry 11st 11lb. With the previous top weighted horse, North Lodge, now a non-runner, Sonigino is considered the best horse in the race by the handicapper, along with Stolen Silver, who shares the same rating of 132.
I also find Sonigino’s jockey booking very interesting. Paul Nicholls’ stable jockey, Harry Cobden, is attending Sandown, and riding another of Paul’s horses in this same race, namely Henri The Second. Although that one is the current 2/1 market favourite, I don’t think he’ll enjoy this ground and I wouldn’t be backing him at that price anyway!
Instead, we have Freddie Keighley riding Sonigino, and he takes a valuable 7lb off with his claim. That means that instead of carrying 11st 11lb, Sonigino has just 11st 4lb, which is much more manageable. It effectively sees him racing off a mark of 125, and he’s a much better horse than that. I would not be surprised at all to see the Nicholls “second string” horse cause an upset here! I certainly think Sonigino will enjoy the conditions far more than his stablemate, as I believe Henri The Second needs really testing ground to be seen at his best.
Can Sonigino defy his odds and beat his stablemate?
In my opinion, the positives are in abundance for Sonigino today. First and foremost, I liked the Newbury run much more than the bare form. I also believe he’s well handicapped, and it’s very interesting that he is dropping in grade. Combining that with Freddie Gingell’s claim reducing Sonigino’s weight, I think he has a great chance today. I certainly feel he’ll improve a ton for his reappearance run at Newbury, and we’ll see a completely different horse here.
In terms of the negatives, Sonigino must prove that he still retains his full ability. However, with the way he travelled at Newbury, I believe he does. I also feel he had excuses for his weak performance from three out that day, and he can see out the race much stronger this time
Weighing up the positives and the negatives, I think he is somewhat overpriced at 14/1, and completely underestimated in the market. I would assume this is because people are taking his Newbury run at face value, and are also distracted by Harry Cobden riding Paul’s other runner. I’m more than happy to back him at the price on offer, and I think he could make that price look silly today.
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