Australia: Sandbanks well prepared for 1 1/8-mile handicap

A seven-furlong handicap at Ballarat Racecourse in Australia on Feb. 1 was arguably too short for Sandbanks, a two-time winner in the last six months.

Dismissed at 17-1, Sandbanks finished eighth, beaten a little more than two lengths in his first start in more than three months. The race may have been an ideal prep for a handicap at about 1 1/8 miles at Terang Racecourse on Monday.

Sandbanks, a 4-year-old Australian-bred gelding, has already shown a liking to longer races, having won a handicap at 1 1/4 miles at tiny Mortlake Racecourse on Nov. 1. Mortlake, west of Melbourne, races once a year, in conjunction with the Australian Derby.

Last September, Sandbanks won a seven-furlong maiden race in his third start at another smaller venue, Hamilton Racecourse.

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Sandbanks will carry topweight of 140 pounds in a field of 11 at Terang, an assignment reduced slightly by the booking of jockey Laura Lafferty, who was aboard for the win at Mortlake and the recent comeback at Ballarat.

Sandbanks, trained by Lindsey Smith, will start from post 5. The gelding tends to run from midpack.

Two other 4-year-old geldings – Nama Dude and St Joeys – will be well supported.

St Joeys, trained by Matthew Williams, is winless in eight starts since a six-furlong maiden race at Swan Hill in December 2019. Despite the losing streak, St Joeys ran a promising fourth in a handicap at 1 1/16 miles at Warrnambool Racecourse on Feb. 5, closing from well off the pace to miss by two lengths.

Nama Dude, trained by Daniel Kelly, is likely to run closer to the front. He was seventh at 40-1 in a handicap at a mile at Ballarat on Feb. 7, fading to lose by five lengths in his second start after a layoff of five months.

Terang has an eight-race program that begins at 9:30 p.m. Eastern, or 6:30 p.m. Pacific, on Sunday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.