This afternoon I’m riding at Sandown for the twilight meeting. The rail is out six metres on the Lakeside circuit and the track is rated in the good range.
Race 3 is the BM70 IVE > Print Handicap over 1400 metres for fillies and mares. My ride here is MOSTLY SUNNY who is trained by Patrick Caboche. This four-year-old mare by Akeed Mofeed is lightly raced having had 14 starts for a record of two wins and six placings. She is racing first-up today and has placed once from two attempts when racing fresh. From her four runs at the distance she has placed three times. I’ve had two rides on her, both at the end of her last preparation and it’s good to have had experience on her as she can move about a little bit in running and be a bit tricky. She has also been ridden effectively both on and off speed, so first up today from an outside barrier draw gives her options depending on how the track is racing. There looks to be a good amount of pressure on paper and in this small field I expect she can make her presence felt.
Race 4 is the BM84 Ladbrokes Split Multi Handicap over 1400 metres. My ride here is SONAREE who is trained by Tom Dabernig & Ben Hayes. This seven-year-old gelding by So You Think runs in the Woods family colours. He’s had 26 starts for a record of five wins and eight second placings. He is a horse that makes his own luck by racing on-speed and is racing third-up today. He is racing up in grade from last start but carries less weight to offset the class rise. This is a small but highly competitive field and if he runs up to his best form he will take a lot of running down.
Race 7 is the BM64 Tile Importer Handicap over 1600 metres. My ride here is INKSLINGER who is trained by Brian McGrath. This five-year-old gelding by Akeed Mofeed has had 24 starts for a record of two wins and eight placings. He is deep into his racing preparation and has been racing consistently at this level. He has the blinkers added to his head gear for the first time today and if they have the desired outcome he can make his presence felt.
Race 8 is the BM64 Ladbrokes Blended Multi Handicap over 2100 metres. My ride here is SWELTER MAGIC (NZ) who is trained by Kevin Corstens. This three-year-old filly by Ghibellines has had six starts for two wins. Two starts ago she won a BM58 at Stony Creek over this distance against the older horses with 61 kilos. She then travelled to Tasmania to run in the Listed Tasmanian Oaks against her own age and sex where she finished fourth, seven lengths from the winner. She is dropping back to BM64 grade today and is racing over the same distance of 2100 metres as her last two starts. She normally makes all the running and races on-speed, but there does look to be more pressure on paper today. If she doesn’t have to work too hard in the early stages she will be in this for a long way.