Summer Sands Fancied to Strike at Beverley

When Summer Sands made his debut at York, there was a lot to like about his performance. He came home third in that race, showed signs of greenness but overall there was a lot to like. Traditionally the maidens at York are very strong, and plenty of good horses come out of them. That implies that the Fahey team think something of this horse, to pitch him in to a race that is likely to be very good on his first start. That race was at the Dante meeting, where some of the strongest York two year old races take place, adding even more weight to the belief that the yard really like this one.

We have already seen a few horses come out of the race, and it looks as though it may be even stronger than we first imagined. The winner on the day was impressive and looks to be a nice prospect. The second and fifth have both come out of the race and won maidens, while the sixth in the race only managed to finish their, but beat Xcelente before going to York, so that adds plenty of substance to the form. This could well turn out to be one of the best early season maidens we have seen so far, I expect to see more winners come from it and I am hoping that today is the day we see another.

This is a step up in class for Summer Sands, although not a big one because the race he made his debut in was better than the average maiden. There is one other strong form horse in the race, which is Oh Purple Reign, a horse who will likely be sent off as the favourite. He ran very well to finish second in a conditions race at Epsom last week over 6f and there is a good case to be made that this piece of form is the best on offer.

However, the nature of that run makes me question whether this horse is capable of winning here. He was staying on strongly over 6f at Epsom and straight away after the race he looked like a horse that would turn out to be even better over 7f, and I fully expected him to step up in distance. However, today he drops back in distance to 5f which is a big worry for me. This is a stiff track, so that will help him but the bare minimum this horse needs in my opinion is 6f, and he’d ideally prefer 7f. I think this trip will be a little too short for him, he will be staying on late but I don’t think he has the speed to peg back these, especially Summer Sands.

I really respect the ability that Oh Purple Reign has shown in his career so far, but the trip puts me off him. Instead I will go with the other piece of solid form in the race, Summer Sands, who looks as though he is coming from an incredibly strong York maiden, and he can take this race on his second start.