These are the times and ratings for the meeting held on the sand track in Madrid last Thursday. As you can see, there are several races with times that are quicker than the standard and that reflects the view that the sand course has been riding faster than usual, possibly because of the summer heat. In fact in the fourth race on the card, a 6-furlong contest, all of the first 5 home managed to run a sub-standard time. This wasn't a particularly high class event and the fact that so many of the runners were able to lie up with such a strong pace shows how much the track was aiding the higher figures. At the weights, only the second placed Bribon came out with a rating above 100, but given the fast conditions underfoot, it isn't something to be entirely relied upon going forwards.
There was a standout performance on this card and that came in the 3rd race, where Blue Moon Eyes produced a career best performance to make all the running to win over 1800 meters. I have placed a link to the replay below so that you can judge for yourself, but this performance, 2-seconds under the standard time, is one of the best seen on the sand track this season and if Blue Moon Eyes turns up in the same form next time, he will be almost impossible to beat. Having set a truly run gallop, he kicked for home with over 3-furlongs to run and galloped through the line, grounding his opponents into the ground. He is relatively unexposed at the trip, this was 7th start at distances beyond a mile and the signs were there, as he came into this contest with form figures of 4,2,1,3, but this was still an enormous effort and the best of his career. To be able to run such a fast time and do all of the work in front, he must be at the peak of both his fitness and wellbeing and wherever he goes next time, he is worth supporting.
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