Recommended:
7:05 Sand – 1pt win Waseem Faris @ 10/1 (Bet365, BetVictor)
Total staked 1pt
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Grange Walk (18:00 Sandown) has been threatening to shed his maiden status of late, and having been denied on the line at Windsor last time under regular rider Paddy Bradley, the son of Thewayyouare, trained by Pat Phelan at Ermyn Lodge in Epsom, looks sure to go close with the expected fast ground and stiff finish expected to prove ideal. Ermyn Lodge has seen some famous winners over the years, most notably the Grand National winner Specify when the stable was home to John Sutcliffe senior, and his story is an intriguing one.
Rae Guest has a knack with fillies, as evidenced by the achievements Serious Attitude, winner of the Cheveley Park Stakes and Grade 1 Nearctic Stakes at Woodbine, Yorkshire Oaks and Prix Vermeille heroine My Emma and her daughter Moments of Joy, the prolific sprinter Millyant and Aldbourne, who was placed in the 1000 Guineas. He has another good prospect in the shape of Poets Dance (18:30 Sandown) who shaped with great promise despite not enjoying much luck in running when third to Flaming Success and Al Raya on debut at Nottingham. She had subsequent winner Know No Limits behind in fourth, and the pair who beat her both ran well in the Queen Mary, finishing fifth and seventh of 25 behind the exciting Raffle Prize. Poets Dance was unfancied for that debut, being sent off at 50/1, but as a daughter of the 7f winner Whirly Bird, she is a half-sister to 2017 Railway Stakes winner Beckford, and is bred to be decent, so improvement can be expected, especially with Guest’s juveniles rarely asked too many questions early in their careers. She already sets a standard which the others may struggle to match, and she appeals as the sort of racy filly to gain black type before the season is out. She is drawn in stall 7 here, and traditionally that is higher than ideal, but it’s notable that the low drawn runners over this track and trip have been the ones struggling this season, and she should be considered to have fared well with a mid-field berth.
Waseem Faris (19:05 Sandown – Nap) is another drawn in stall 7 over the minimum trip, and may offer value having run a rare poor race last time. He’s a pretty tough sort who takes his racing well, so should be able to bounce straight back, and he was a winner on firm ground at Bath in May. The going here is given as good, with mentions of good to soft, but with temperatures north of 30 degrees and the sun baking the turf, that will surely be amended by post time, and it could be very quick come the middle of the evening. The selection has raced twice on firm ground at Sandown, finishing best when beaten 1½ lengths fourth of 12 on his first try, and winning this race off a 1lb lower mark a year ago.
Regards,
Rory
