ONE of the most consistent sprinters in British racing will line up in Saturday’s £50,000 Sky Bet Dash at York.

Foolaad has only been out of the first three on one occasion in his last dozen races, winning no less than seven of them.

Like a fine wine, he has improved with age and from late last December through to mid-April, the now seven-year-old bagged five races on the bounce. His official rating duly rose from 82 to 101 during his victory spree.

Trainer, Roy Bowring, brought Foolaad to York for the Dante Festival in May when he came second in a competitive six-furlong sprint. After that the horse ran with credit in the Wokingham heritage handicap at Royal Ascot, only beaten just over four lengths.

It is no mean feat to keep a horse regularly performing to such a high level but Bowring knows how to get the best out of Foolaad. He explained: “After his race we give him a very easy fortnight or three weeks. Then we just start again with 10 days to go and hopefully he’s right and bouncing.”

Foolaad was bred by Darley but never raced for his original trainer Saeed bin Suroor. He switched to Bowring’s Nottinghamshire base and went on to make his debut as a four-year-old in 2015.
But the fact that he had more time than many thoroughbreds to strengthen up before his career began, played a key part in helping him become such a success story.

Bowring confirmed: “A lot of it is to do with because he was not raced very much at all until he was four or five.”

Foolaad has certainly shown enough to suggest he is capable of landing a sizeable prize such as the one on offer at York this weekend. Connections are just hoping for a drop of rain for the son of Exceed And Excel, who is due a breeze on the home gallops on Thursday.

Bowring summed up: “We’re happy going into the race, as long as we get a bit of rain and it’s not too firm. We’ll see how we go.”

York’s two-day Music Showcase weekend starts on Friday when a six-race evening card precedes a concert from legendary welsh singer Sir Tom Jones. Saturday’s Pattern Race highlight is the £120,000 Sky Bet York Stakes, a Group 2 over a mile and quarter on the Knavesmire. The post-racing concert will see Boyzone take to the stage on Saturday.

For tickets please call 01904 620911 x 225 or visit www.yorkracecourse.co.uk