Will a low draw prove key in this competitive sprint handicap?

Beverley is renowned for having a low-draw bias at sprint trips and the stats certainly back that up.

There have been 190 5f sprint handicaps with ten or more runners at the track since 2009 and 90 of them have been won by horses in the four lowest stalls, with the breakdown for stalls one to four being 17, 21, 24 and 28.

The only course winner among those drawn lowest is Star Of Lady M (in one), who won the Hilary Needler from stall four last season, but she has managed to beat just one horse in each of her two starts this year and and is an unlikely winner unless first-time cheekpieces do the trick.

Trainer David O’Meara has a 16 per cent strike-rate with that first-time headgear though, and the winners have come at decent prices as his 19 winners from 119 runners (since 2009) have yielded a £1 level-stakes profit of £49.

Dickieburd, drawn in stall two, has stronger claims following an excellent 33-1 third in the inaugural 3YO ‘Dash’ at Epsom on Derby day, while King’s Crown ran as well as ever when fourth at Doncaster last time, and he will emerge from stall four in first-time blinkers for Adrian Nicholls, whose sole 2023 runner in that first-time headgear won at 20-1 last month.

Many of the fancied runners are drawn in double figures, including Quandary, a comfortable winner of a Pontefract novice last time (runner-up a good second off 69 next time) but burdened with stall 13 of 13 for this handicap debut. She’ll have to be ahead of her mark to to defy that.

Incidentally, those looking at the opening sprint handicap on the card (3.45) will note that early favourite and four-timer-seeking Papa Cocktail is drawn 17 of 17 and the last winner to emerge from that stall was way back in 2015, although in fairness the losing run is only ten.
Analysis by Paul Kealy

What they say

Adrian Nicholls, trainer of King’s Crown
We’ve changed the headgear from cheekpieces to blinkers to mix it up a bit and he has a nice draw, so he could run a big race. It’s a competitive race as you would expect for the money and hopefully we can get a piece of the action.

Steve Bentworth, spokesman for the Ontoawinner syndicate, part owners of Another Baar
He’s up 10lb for his last win but is very nice and Adrian Keatley’s horses could not be in better form. He has plenty of pace, so should handle the drop back to five furlongs at a track like Beverley and we go there hopeful.

Craig Lidster, trainer of Dickieburd
He ran a blinder at Epsom last week to be third in the three-year-old Dash when we thought he may be a bit ring rusty. We aren’t fixing what’s not broken, so we’re leaving the apprentice William Pyle on board. He’s got a great draw in stall two, he likes to front run and there is plenty to like about his chances.

Steve Brown, assistant to Julie Camacho, trainer of Winter Crown
They went a bit quick for him at York last time and we feel this stiff five furlongs should suit him better. He’s not the best drawn in stall ten but there is plenty of pace on early, so hopefully he can tack across. It’s great prize money and hopefully he can get some of it.

Philip Robinson, racing manager to Sheikh Juma Dalmook Al Maktoum, owner of Desert Games
He’s dropping to five furlongs for his first handicap and has a visor fitted for the first time. He should appreciate the quicker ground and is reasonably drawn.

Daniel Kubler, joint-trainer of Aira Force
She’s starting later than planned as she had a snotty nose in the spring but she’s strong and hopefully could have a good season. It’s a big ask first time out as it’s competitive but we like to support the Sunday Series and we’ve won a race every year.
Reporting by David Milnes

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