Sand Stormers: The best bets on all-weather

Sand Stormers / Paul Smith / 25 October 2011 / Leave a Comment

There's plenty to look forward to on all-weather over the coming months

"Racing on a uniform surface with a smaller pool of horses does mean that if you are prepared to put the work in, the rewards are there."

Paul Smith is back with his Sand Stormers column, pinpointing horses to follow on all-weather during the winter months....

Winter isn't my favourite season. Dark mornings, dark afternoons, cold weather and having to wrap up like an eskimo on the golf course are all reasons to celebrate the arrival of spring, but it does mean that the all-weather season is upon us and hopefully Sand Stormers will be able to dig out a few winners to provide some cheer.

All-weather racing isn't for everyone but it isn't going away and if you aren't a fan, the chances are you won't be reading anyway!

Racing on a uniform surface with a smaller pool of horses does mean that if you are prepared to put the work in, the rewards are there.

For those of you who have stumbled across this for the first time, here's the deal. The idea is to provide a rolling list of horses to follow over the winter and to highlight when they are running under their optimum conditions.

The main reasons for a horse getting included in the list are running well against various biases (track/pace/draw) but there will be others thrown in on a whim.

Sand Stormers will usually appear on a Monday and during the week, there will be a chat with the team at Timeform Radio which will allow some of the new additions to be discussed in more detail.

To kick off, I have dug out eight horses who should be worth following as the weather gets colder and it is dark before Pointless begins.

Adorable Choice 3yo filly trained by Tom Dascombe
She almost certainly has a few quirks and her form has a binary look to it, but she is a very capable handicapper on her day and she has already won twice on turf this summer. Her latest effort at Newbury needs marking up as she forced a very strong pace and was still only beaten four lengths, and she has already proved she is effective on Polytrack. Her quirks are offset by the fact that no-one seems to rate her - only once in her 12-race career has she had an SP shorter than 14/1 - and although there are likely to be some disappointments along the way, she could be one to back blind over the winter.

Bond Fastrac 4yo gelding trained by Geoff Oldroyd
The profile is a tried and tested one - smart juvenile who struggles due to lack of opportunity at three and drops in the weights. He has managed to win on turf this summer but he is effective on Polytrack and he still looks capable of winning races off a mark of 74.

Conducting 3yo gelding trained by Gay Kelleway
Often highly tried when trained by Brian Meehan, he has shown enough on his last two starts to think he was up to winning for his new stable off a much-reduced mark.
He finished strongly to take third at Wolverhampton on his penultimate start, despite being trapped out wide, and again did well from a poor position at Lingfield last time.
Compensation awaits.

Even Stevens 3yo gelding trained by David Nicholls
A fairly straightforward pick in that he is five from six on all-weather and looks an absolute monster at Southwell. He was eased down when beating Oneladyowner (now rated 85) by nine lengths in March and he still looks very nicely treated on that form. There has been enough promise on turf this summer to think he retains all his ability and he should be a major player in the big 5f races over the winter, particularly at Southwell.

Greek Islands 3yo gelding trained by Ed de Giles
A cheap buy from Godolphin, Greek Islands has yet to put his head in front for his new stable but he has run quite well on a couple of occasions and looks on a competitive mark. His rookie trainer has impressed in his first summer with a licence - he got off the mark on the Flat with Command Marshall in June and has saddled a further eight winners - and he should find suitable opportunities over the winter, particularly if upped to 1m2f (bred to stay at least that far).

Intransigent 2yo gelding trained by Andrew Balding
Twelve months ago Pelmanism was on the horses-to-follow list based purely on his pedigree - he was related to a stack of all-weather winners and duly proved himself an improved performer over the winter. This time round, Intransigent fits that bill and although he was only seventh of 10 on his Salisbury debut, he should do much better with that behind him. He is a half-brother to Border Music, who was a different proposition on Polytrack, and he should find a maiden within his range if kept on the go over the winter.

Kames Park 9yo gelding trained by Richard Guest
Rising 10 and carrying the infamous Timeform squiggle, Kames Park isn't an obvious one for a horses-to-follow list but, for all his quirks, it is worth noting that he has won eight of his 35 starts on the AW (and been placed on a further 12 occasions). He ran a cracker when fifth at Kempton last time, having little chance the way he was ridden, and that effort was good enough to think he could win again when faced with a stronger pace to chase. He has been dropped another pound since and should continue to pay his way.

Priestley's Reward 2yo gelding trained by Elaine Burke
More of a short-term project than most of these but his run at Wolverhampton on his all-weather debut suggested he would be up to winning a nursery in the near future. He was ridden less aggressively than most of those involved in the finish on that occasion and his run probably needs marking up a bit. He does hold an entry in a claimer on Thursday, but hopefully he will stick to nurseries and provide the column with an early strike.

LIST OF HORSES TO FOLLOW

Adorable Choice (underrated filly who did well to last as long as she did at Newbury (21/10))
Bond Fastrac (still well handicapped on old form and good second at Nottingham (11/10))
Conducting (better than the result on both 17/9 and 12/10)
Even Stevens (looked Fibresand monster (22/3))
Greek Islands (looked worth upping in trip (12/10))
Intransigent (related to smart AW performer and promise on debut (10/10))
Kames Park (no chance the way he was ridden in slowly run race (12/10))
Priestley's Reward (ran best race so far when second on All Weather debut (22/10))