CAS,
“but the low sun issue rules it out, unless the race was run at something like 1pm.”
Or perhaps it could be run at 3:30. I’ve just checked the official sunset time for Boxing Day and it’s 3:58. And if you watch the 3:25 race from the meeting in December, it looks to me as if the sun is a) very low (obviously) but also b) more behind the stands. So at least what you can see during this bumper is that the hurdle course and quite a stretch beyond are in shadow, even though it’s clear on the home turn that the sun is still shining.
Certainly that late in the afternoon, the sun is at an angle that shouldn’t affect the chase runners. But they did take hurdles out in the race timed at 1:05, so 1pm probably wouldn’t be guaranteed safe.
All hypothetical and I’d vote for Sandown anyway – and I’d move the race to the first Saturday in January so that public transport would be available. Sandown could never cope with 15k+ if they all arrived by car.