Sweetnessandlight

Sweetnessandlight had won her previous three starts before lining up in the Group 3 Atalanta Stakes at Sandown on Saturday, but the first of them was only a selling handicap for horses rated 0-65, and although the latest of them was a 0-95 handicap at Pontefract, it was for three-year-olds only and wasn’t the most competitive of races.

Saturday’s race was a huge step up for the daughter of Aussie Rules, but she belied her starting price of 50/1 to run a huge race from a poor draw. Gathering, Ladys First, Clinical and Falls Of Lora all raced prominently, and Sweetnessandlight and the high-class winner Dank were the only two to come from the rear to be involved, with Sweetnessandlight coming from even further back and even wider than Dank. Jason Ward’s filly had to pull around Captivator two and a half furlongs out, and was forced even wider when Captivator jinked left coming to the two-furlong marker, but she kept on really well down the outside, closing all the way to the line, getting the better of the useful Irish History in the centre of the track.

Sweetnessandlight’s performance here was a fair bit better than the bare form of it suggests, she remains highly progressive, and on this evidence she could progress again for a step up in trip. There is a chance that the merit of this run has not been not fully appreciated, given that she started at 50/1 and hails from a small yard, and that may mean she will still be under-rated next time. The form of her previous two wins has been franked by the runners-up subsequently, though, there is a lot to like about her attitude, and there should be more to come.

1st September 2012