The aptly-named King Of The Sand has yet to race on a synthetic surface, of any kind, but makes his Polytrack debut in the Bet in Play at Totesport.com Handicap (6.15) at Chelmsford on Tuesday evening. The Footstepsinthesand gelding was a promising juvenile, making all to win a novice median auction stakes race at Brighton unchallenged, by 4½ lengths, on just his third start.
However, he was beaten favourite in a novice stakes race on his three-year-old debut at Epsom in April and subsequently only ninth of ten, beaten 8 lengths, on his handicap debut at Sandown the following month. He was subsequently gelded and, after a 129-break, eased down in the closing stages to finish well beaten, on soft going, at Goodwood in October. He should be all the better for that run, his first since June, and, having been dropped 5lb in the weights, looks leniently treated on his form as a two-year-old.
West Sussex trainer Gary Moore doesn’t run that many three-year-olds at Chelmsford, but has a fairly healthy 6-29 (21%) strike rate with that age group at the Essex track over the years, so King Of The Sand looks worth chancing in a race where recent winning form in short supply. His moderate form so far this year, coupled with the fact that he’s untried on the surface, not to mention stepping up in distance, should ensure that he’s sent off at a shade of odds. Even so, he may be able to show some fully exposed, ordinary rivals a clean pair of heels, in a style in keeping with his name.
Selection: Chelmsford 6.15 King Of The Sand to win