Sand Castle Golden Sprint

The annual running of the Sand Castle races in Dubai are on the agenda for this weekend with tons of mega-purse rich races.  This article is focused on the $1.5 million 6-furlong Golden Sprint which features 5-year old Heard on High  and 4-year old Upper Corner, both are Eclipse winners.  The races is set at 5-furlongs and we should have a fast and dry track for this open field of 4 year olds and up. Here is the field:

1  FAROSH’S FANG (owned by Lenny271) 12/1

This colt is a mid-field runner, sired by Curlin, and has won 2 of his last three starts.  Most recently, he won the Schrutte Stakes (G1) by over a stride at 14/1 odds.  Two races prior, he won the G3 Mr. Moody Stakes by more than a stride and these pair of victories had speeds of 113 and 114.   In the Double F Memorial, a G1 race that was sandwiched between these wins, he was shuffled back towards the back quarter of the field, a rare place for him to be positioned.  He rallied late to get second at 13/1 odds and a bit lower 105 speed.   He has been ITM 13 of 14 starts, so he figures to do very well this time out

2 HAVE THE AUDACITY  (owned by Spinround)  10/1

In mid-2024, this Street Boss bred colt had a nice win streak of three in a row which included a pair of grade level wins in the G2 Foolish Tom and G3 MD Breeders Bowl with a career best speed scored of 115 in the Foolish Tom.  He soured up in the following pair of G1 races, finishing off the board.  Lately, this mid-field hustler has improved a bit, finishing second in both the Pablo Verces Handiap and Florida BB Sprint Championship (both G2 races).  Speeds for this pair cam in at 106 and 107.   He is capable but looks a little rattled after that nice win streak.

3  UPPER CORNER (owned by Slowjet)  14/1

Upper Corner is a Cinderella story as he comes out of a dirt-cheap sire Speaker’s Corner and is the only grade-winning child from this sire.  None-the-less, he also has an Eclipse award, thanks to his ability to win three G1 races in 2024 with the best coming in the Sam Saves the Day.  He hit is career best speed of 116 in this event and won by a half stride.   He finished 5^th in the Breeders’ Bowl Sprint by over a stride and squared off with older horses for the first time in that race and a fine effort.  He was also 5^th in the Malibu Sprint at the end of the year.  This year, he ran in an allowance event in February to prep for this outing, winning with a 109 speed and by a stride.  Despite the pair of 5^th place finishes to wrap up the 2024 season, he may be in keen shape coming off his prep race.

4 PURE MO  (owned by Lenny271)  7/1

This solid late runner, out of Uncle Mo, is coming off a 4^th in the Arlo’s Turmoil Sprint where he was less than 2 strides off the winner.  The previous three G1 races all ended up with 2^nd place finishes, missing the top seat by under a stride in each effort.  He is a major danger in the stretch and will be closing hard and fierce.  Very consistent as he has been ITM 14 of 18 outings.   Speeds have ranged 107-112 over last four appearances. 

5  HAMAXING BEAST  (owned by Fredje)  22/1

The longshot in this field is also one of the oldest at age 6 (there is one other in this field at the same age).  He is sired by Hamazing Destiny and is the only child from this sire who has ever won a stakes level race.  That listed race victory came nearly a year ago when this gelding rallied from last to first and a 104 speed.  Since then, he finished 2^nd in another listed stake race as well as in the G2 Consignment.  He has two other grade level appearances and was off the board in each.    This will be his first start of 2025 and speed numbers are a concern as most of his foes in this field are pumping out much better numbers.  He is a slow starter who can make a late run, if he is up to it, but that can be hit and miss with him.

6  RELATIVE HUMOR (owned by Temp3)  9/2

Coming off a very nice 6-stride win and 117 speed in an allowance prep race, this Uncle Mo-bred colt looks ready for another good race season.   He likes to sit in a mid-field spot and accelerate coming off the turn into the stretch.  His last start of 2024 was in the Breeders’ Bowl Sprint where he charged to take the third spot with a 108 speed and missed top honors by a stride.  The two starts prior to the Bowl race were in G2 events where he won each (Game of Chance and Sooner-Husker) with 117 and 112 speeds.   He is very consistent In sprint outing, finishing ITM 15 of 18 tries and the 117 speed in his prep race looks very promising coming into this big race, especially the margin of victory.

7 THE MINIAPPLE   16/1 (owned by Jms7777)

Over the past year, this colt has won four of eight starts and includes a G3 win in the Dirty Shore last June.  Along with this, there are also a pair of listed stake wins with second place finishes in a listed stakes and the G2 Mary Bellum.  Sired by City of Light, this four year old is more of a mid-field positioned runner and has a decent level of consistency as he has been ITM 12 of 14 races with a sizeable 8 wins to boot.  He enters off a nice allowance prep race which he won with a 109 speed.  His odds may underrepresent what he is capable of achieving as he makes his first G1 race appearance. 

8  MY SEAQUILL  17/1  (owned by Padrebri)

This Lion Heart bred colt just had a 4-race win streak come to an end.  In July, the streak started with an allowance win with another at this level added in August.  He than took off to add a listed stakes win to the streak and followed that up with a very nice win in the G1 Malibu Sprint, hitting his career best speed of 114 and upsetting the field at 14/1 odds.  The streak came to an end last month in the G3 Shimmer when he found himself nearly in the rear of the field but was able to overcome his poor positioning and rallied from 12^th to finish 5^th and a stride and a half behind the winner with a 107 speed figure.  I like the effort he put in as he usually takes a spot near the middle of the field.  If he can get into such a spot this time out, and avoid drifting towards the backside, he stands a good chance of lighting up the toteboard with big payouts.

9  I GOT THIS GUITAR (owned by Gowans)  8/1

Over his last four grade-level starts, this colt sired by Bolt D’Oro has a win and three second place finishes.  Speeds have been recorded in the 108 to 113 range over this span and his win came in the Double F Memorial, running 10^th at the half and taking the field down by a length and a half.  This late running colt is in fine shape coming into this big race and the last time he was off the board was his 5^th place finish in the Golden Sprint race last year where he was fifth and four strides off the winner.  He looks to make amends as he takes another shot at this race and his current form could just deliver this time out.

10  ASTRONAUT CADET  (owned by Cadet)  17/1

In his last race, this Curlin-bred colt got caught on the line and was beat by a head in the G2 Pablo Cruz Handicap with a 109 speed and to insult to injury, it was a 3-horse photo for the win and he took the show spot.  The race prior to this was the G1 Malibu Sprint and he finished 7^th with a 107 Sp and looked like he was making a nice move past the half, running 2^nd, only for the field to reel him in.  Just before this event, he took a win in a listed stakes with a 110 speed figure and and career best one just before that, in last August, with a 111 in the G1 Prince’s Knight.  He has an opportunity here as he enjoys being close to the lead and there is a lack of front runners in the field, so he could get a very favorable trip in this event.

11  PEC  (owned by Ric480)  7/1

At 7/1, this runner is one of three horses at this odd and they are all the co-second choices in the field.  What makes Pec special is he is one of two horses that are 6-year olds, the oldest ones in this race.  This Malibu Moon bred horse enters the race after a very good outing in the G2 Pablo Verces where he blew the field away with his 116 speed and won by handily by more than three lengths.  Prior to this event, he pursued the Breeders’ Bowl Sprint and finished 4^th, over a length behind the winner.  He likes to be in the middle of the field in the early going and in his 18 career starts, there were only one race where he did not take home a paycheck (finishing 6^th or worse).   He set a career best speed in his start in January and if this old timer can repeat that effort, this race could be all his.

12  MAGNANIME (owned by Haack)  10/1

This son of More Than Ready, had a tough time in the Breeders’ Bowl Sprint as he finished 6^th with a speed of 106 and was a disappointing outcome which ended a win streak of four straight, highlighted by a wins in the Iceberg (G1) and Cyber Attack Sprint (G2) and a career best speed of 114 in the latter.  Both of these were on the slop, a surface he has done very well on.  He comes into this race with a 4^th place finish in the Shimmer (G3) and 108 speed, which came on the heels of his G2 win in the Ivan Yamil Handicap (G2) this past February where he hit a 113 speed.  Magananime generally is comfy sitting in the middle of the pack and timing a late run off the turn.  He does not get the wet surface today but is not out of the picture as he has done well on the dry surface as evidenced in the Ivan Yamil Handicap performance.

13  STRATEGIC BOB (owned by Ceres)  17/1

This colt is out of the cheap sire Baltimore Bob and is the only grade winner from this sire.   He’s kind of a win or get nothing kind of runner.  In 16 races, he has amassed 11 victories and hit the board one other time.  When the gate opens, he will push the peddle down and bolt out for the lead.   He has a pair of graded wins under his belt, the first came last July in the Bandido Sprint (G3), winning by a length and 106 speed.  The other came this past January in the Arlo’s Turmoil Sprint (G1) winning by a half-stride at 15/1 and hitting a career best speed of 110.  If he’s not in a fight for the lead early on, he could steal this race!

14  HEARD ON HIGH (owned by Tamure)  7/1

Heard on High will be making his first start of 2025 in this event.  This Blame-sired colt was last seen racing in the Breeders’ Bowl Sprint, last November, where he settled to his comfy mid-field positioning and took off coming around the turn and rallied to win by just shy of a length and notched a 110 speed in the process.  Prior to this win, he also took the Old Name with a 113 speed in a very similar fashion by half a length.    He finished 2024 in good style, but the question at hand is will he be ready after being sidelined for nearly 4-months?

My Picks:

Favorite Relative Humor put in a wonderful prep in allowance race last month and looks to be in top condition to excel once again.

Longshot Astronaut Cadet gets my second pick as the field lacks early speed and this one likes to stay close to the front runners and may have no issue reeling them in and striking at a price.

I Got this Guitar has good late run ability and this field lacks speed bunnies which could give him plenty of time to charge late and take this event.