Summer Sands booked his place at Royal Ascot with a classy victory in the £40,000 Truckingby Brian Yeardley Two-Year-Old Trophy at Beverley on Saturday.
Sent off an 11-4 chance in a hot five-runner affair, Richard Fahey’s two-year-old son of Coach House from the outset looked the real deal in the hands of Barry McHugh.
Summer Sands, owned by the Cool Silk Partnership, travelled kindly for much of the five-furlong journey before he took control inside the final 100 yards.
Brave runner-up Oh Purple Reign put up a spirited performance, but Fahey’s juvenile, who was an eye-catching third at York on his debut, kicked on to score by half a length.
Cool Silk partner Peter Swann, who is also chairman of Scunthorpe Utd, said: “This horse pleased us at York when Barry didn’t give him a hard time.
“We knew he’d progress from that and since then he’s just grown and grown.
“This was a good race, but he’s done it so well in the end and looks a proper racehorse.
“This is a nice prize to win, though, and hopefully we can get to Royal Ascot with him – for me, he looks like a Coventry horse.”
Fahey added: “We were pleased with him at York and the form from that race has worked out quite well.
“We thought he’d improve for that and he’s done just that.
“Things can all change, but if I was choosing, you’d say he’d go for the Coventry Stakes.”
Liberty Beach Joins Summer Sands In Having A Good Day At Beverley Races
Liberty Beach will also had a good day at Beverley and will head to Royal Ascot on top of her game after she won the Hilary Needler Trophy.
Trained in Malton by John Quinn and ridden by David Allan, the two-year-old claimed the historic five-furlong dash by two and a half lengths.
Liberty Beach had won on her debut at Redcar on May 27. Again she showed impressive pace when it mattered in the silks of Peter Wilkins.
Quinn said: “She had to be pushed along the first two furlongs and it was almost like she’d had two races.
“But she’s a very nice filly and stayed on really nicely.
“Visually, she was very impressive so it was a lovely result.
“We’ll definitely think about Royal Ascot. There’s obviously the Queen Mary and she’ll also be put in the Windsor Castle.”
David Allan added: “She’s a brave ‘un, and I wouldn’t put them off from running at Royal Ascot.”
