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Horse profile

Sands Castle (IRE)

3yo filly · Trainer Adrian Sexton · Owner Vincent Kelly
by Sands Of Mali (FR) out of Light At Dawn (IRE) (Dawn Approach)
11 runs · 9 courses · from Oct 2025
As at 28 Oct 2026 · KTB archive: GB, Ireland & France · 2005–present, updated daily
Last run 19 Oct 2026 · 8th of 16 Last raced off OR 56
KTB Profile

Sands Castle is a maiden who has run 11 times without a win but has placed once. Her best effort came when second of 14 at Ballinrobe in Jun 2026. She usually races prominently and last ran in mid-division when eighth of 16 in a handicap at Gowran Park in Oct 2026 off an official rating of 56, 8lb below her highest ever mark. She is by Sands Of Mali out of a Dawn Approach mare.

Based on 11 archived runs · run-style from 11 commented runs since Oct 2025 · updated 28 Oct 2026
KTB at a glance OR ↓ 8lb off peak
Official rating56↓ 8lb off peak
56 56–64

KTB Speed and Rating

KTB Speed

Best recent Speed 104 the best of the last 3 graded (A or B) runs · Ballinrobe (IRE), 10 Aug 2026

How fast the horse ran, as points against the day-corrected standard time for its course and distance: 100 is the median GB Class 4 handicap winner on that code; one point is 0.1% of the standard time. A, B or C is how much the day's card could tell us, not how good the run was. What this means →

Flat 9 figures · best 125C · median 61
GoingRunsBestMedianSince 28 Oct 2025
Soft4125C674 runs · 125 / 67
Good398C613 runs · 98 / 61
Heavy228C241 run · —
DistanceRunsBestMedianSince 28 Oct 2025
1m – 1m1f5125C644 runs · 125 / 67
6f – 7f261C57.52 runs · 61 / 57.5
1m2f – 1m4f298C582 runs · 98 / 58
Jumps 2 figures · best 104B · median 87
GoingRunsBestMedianSince 28 Oct 2025
Good2104B872 runs · 104 / 87
DistanceRunsBestMedianSince 28 Oct 2025
2m1f – 2m4f1——1 run · —
1m5f – 2m1——1 run · —

KTB Speed v1 · batch 15 Sep 2026 · GB & Irish racing only · 11 figures from 11 runs · as at 27 Oct 2026 · a record, not a forecast

KTB Rating

Best recent KTB Rating (flat) 61A the best of the last 3 rated runs · Gowran Park (IRE), 19 Oct 2026 Official rating 56 at the last flat run, 19 Oct 2026

Best recent KTB Rating (jumps) 103A the best of the last 2 rated runs · Ballinrobe (IRE), 10 Aug 2026

What the horse achieved in each race, in pounds on the official-rating scale, from the weight carried, the lengths beaten and the race's own level solved across the archive — never the market, never the official rating as a starting point. The headline is the best of the horse's last three rated runs on that code. A, B or C on a run is how much known form was in that race. What this means →

Flat 9 figures · best 82A · median 57
GoingRunsBestMedianSince 28 Oct 2025
Soft482A70.54 runs · 82 / 70.5
Good360A533 runs · 60 / 53
Heavy256C481 run · —
DistanceRunsBestMedianSince 28 Oct 2025
1m – 1m1f582A614 runs · 82 / 70.5
6f – 7f260A56.52 runs · 60 / 56.5
1m2f – 1m4f257A50.52 runs · 57 / 50.5
Jumps 2 figures · best 103A · median 91
GoingRunsBestMedianSince 28 Oct 2025
Good2103A912 runs · 103 / 91
DistanceRunsBestMedianSince 28 Oct 2025
2m1f – 2m4f1——1 run · —
1m5f – 2m1——1 run · —

KTB Rating v1 · batch 3 Oct 2026 · GB & Irish racing only · 11 figures from 11 runs · as at 27 Oct 2026 · a record, not a forecast

Both figures are KTB's own, computed from the archive; no vendor rating enters either. Every run's figure is on its form line below with its grade. Grades measure how much the archive could see, never the merit of the run.

Run style from 11 analysed runs since Oct 2025

  • Prominent 6 (55%) · 0 wins
  • Held up 3 (27%) · 0 wins
  • Mid-division 2 (18%) · 0 wins

Pedigree intelligence

Sire
Sands Of Mali (FR)

Progeny in our archive have won 11.5% of 790 runs since Jan 2008 (87 horses).

Weakest on good going: 8.3% from 204.

GoingRunsWinsSRvs sireThis horse
Firm400%−11.5—
Good to Firm1261411.1%−0.4—
Good204178.3%−3.20 from 5
Good to Soft69913%+1.5—
Soft105109.5%−20 from 4
Heavy36719.4%+7.90 from 2
Standard (AW)2463413.8%+2.3—
Distance (all codes)RunsWinsSRvs sireThis horse
Under 6f193189.3%−2.2—
6f – 7f4746814.3%+2.80 from 2
1m – 1m1f9444.3%−7.20 from 5
1m2f – 1m4f2015%−6.50 from 2
1m5f – 2m400%−11.50 from 1
2m1f – 2m4f500%−11.50 from 1

Flat and jumps together (all codes) · since Jan 2008 · as at 28 Oct 2026 · rows under 30 runs muted · win % is the measure, a record not a forecast

Dam
Light At Dawn (IRE) (Dawn Approach)

3 siblings in the archive, 0 winners.

ProduceRunsWinsWin tripsBest grade
Profitable Dawn (IRE)120——
Blitogue (IRE)10——
Millguy (IRE)10——

Record by conditions

GoingRunsWinsSR£1
Good 5 0 0% −5.00
Soft 4 0 0% −4.00
Heavy 2 0 0% −2.00

CourseRunsWinsSR£1
Gowran Park (IRE) 2 0 0% −2.00
Gowran Park 2 0 0% −2.00
Down Royal (IRE) 1 0 0% −1.00
Ballinrobe (IRE) 1 0 0% −1.00
Killarney (IRE) 1 0 0% −1.00
Ballinrobe 1 0 0% −1.00
Fairyhouse 1 0 0% −1.00
Sligo 1 0 0% −1.00
Curragh 1 0 0% −1.00

DistanceRunsWinsSR£1
1m – 1m1f 5 0 0% −5.00
6f – 7f 2 0 0% −2.00
1m2f – 1m4f 2 0 0% −2.00
2m1f – 2m4f 1 0 0% −1.00
1m5f – 2m 1 0 0% −1.00

JockeyRunsWinsSR£1
Conor Lamon 2 0 0% −2.00
Harry Sexton 2 0 0% −2.00
Shane Foley 2 0 0% −2.00
Killian Leonard 2 0 0% −2.00
Gavin Ryan 1 0 0% −1.00
Robbie Colgan 1 0 0% −1.00
Wesley Joyce 1 0 0% −1.00

HeadgearRunsWinsSR£1
None 9 0 0% −9.00
Hood 2 0 0% −2.00

SeasonRunsWinsSR£1
2026 9 0 0% −9.00
2025 2 0 0% −2.00

TypeRunsWinsSR£1
Flat 9 0 0% −9.00
Hurdle 2 0 0% −2.00

Splits include every sample, however small — muted rows are under 3 runs. A one-from-one record is a fact, not a trend: read the Runs column before the strike rate.

Form

DateCourseRace PosBtn Wgt ORSpdKTB Jockey SP
2026 · 9 runs
19 Oct 26+52d Gowran Park (IRE) Racing Club Membership Handicap (Div I) 8.5f · Soft · 16 ran Ninth at halfway in the pack's midst - pushed on over 1f out but made little impression - faded inside the final furlong to finish 8th 8/16 2 9-2 5664C61A Conor Lamon 16/1
28 Aug 26+18d Down Royal (IRE) Coca-Cola HBC Ireland And Northern Ireland 3-Y-O Hurdle 17.5f · Good · 9 ran Sat close to the front early - disputing second at halfway - urged into effort after three out then found little more and slipped to fourth nearing the following fence - fifth and driven before the last - stayed on at the same rate to the line finishing sixth 6/9 3¾ 9-12 —70A79B Harry Sexton 8/1
10 Aug 26+16d Ballinrobe (IRE) C.J. Sheeran Ltd 3-Y-O Maiden Hurdle 16.5f · Good · 13 ran Sat close to the front group early - asked for effort approaching two out then held sixth without finding more - stayed on at the same rate to the line finishing sixth 6/13 3¾ 10-0 —104B103A Conor Lamon 66/1
25 Jul 26+12d Gowran Park (IRE) O'Driscolls Irish Whiskey Handicap (Div II) 7f · Good · 16 ran Raced up with the pace - asked for effort entering the straight - faded 11/16 hd 9-8 5961C60A Shane Foley 7/2F
13 Jul 26+21d Killarney (IRE) Heights Hotel, Killarney Handicap 11.5f · Good · 14 ran up with the front runners and 5th halfway - needed urging and dropped back approaching the straight - found nothing more from 2f out 12/14 1¼ 9-7 6098C44C Harry Sexton 14/1
22 Jun 26+17d Ballinrobe J.J. Burke Peugeot Handicap (0-60) 9.5f · Yielding · 14 ran Slow to begin - settled towards the back - moved into 6th with 2½f left - improved to 3rd inside the final furlong - stayed on for second but never able to trouble the winner 2/14 3¼ 10-0 6070C82A Shane Foley 12/1
05 Jun 26+33d Fairyhouse 5 Euro General Admission At Fairyhouse On June 12th Maiden 7f · Good · 14 ran Held up at the back - made no impression through the race - well beaten in 10th 10/14 1 9-3 6154C53A Gavin Ryan 125/1
03 May 26+11d Sligo Apex Controls Ltd. Handicap 10.5f · Yielding To Soft · 9 ran Sat close to pace and pulling hard early - moved across left after a furlong and a half - shared the lead by 3f then lost it 4f out - pushed along in second 3f out - couldn't find more inside the final furlong - finished fifth well beaten 5/9 7½ 9-6 6418A57A Robbie Colgan 15/2
22 Apr 26+171d Gowran Park Irish Stallion Farms EBF Median Auction Maiden 8f · Soft · 15 ran Settled in midfield - 8th with 3f left before improving into 5th approaching the final furlong - stayed on at one gallop to finish 4th 4/15 2¼ 9-3 —125C80A Killian Leonard 300/1
2025 · 2 runs
02 Nov 25+13d Curragh Irish EBF Maiden (Smullen Series) 8f · Heavy · 20 ran Tucked in behind pace early - 5th at halfway - pressed for effort with 3f left but couldn't find more - well held at finish 14/20 8½ 8-13 —28C56C Wesley Joyce 250/1
20 Oct 25 Gowran Park Irish EBF Median Sires Series Fillies Maiden (Smullen Series) 8.5f · Heavy · 11 ran Slow into stride - held up towards the back for much of the way - pushed along and unable to quicken over 2f out - well held at the finish 10/11 9 8-9 —20C40C Killian Leonard 200/1

Quick answers

How many races has Sands Castle won?
Sands Castle (IRE) has yet to win, from 11 archived starts between 2025 and 2026. Placed 1 time in total (9.1% of starts).
Who trains Sands Castle?
Sands Castle (IRE) is trained by Adrian Sexton, who saddled the horse on its most recent run on 19 October 2026.
Who is Sands Castle's sire?
Sands Castle (IRE) is by Sands Of Mali (FR) out of Light At Dawn (IRE), whose sire is Dawn Approach.
What is Sands Castle's official rating?
The most recent official rating on record is 56, from the run on 19 October 2026. The highest on record is 64.
What is Sands Castle's sire's record?
Sands Of Mali (FR)'s progeny in our archive have won 11.5% of 790 runs since Jan 2008 (87 horses), Flat and jumps together. Weakest on good going: 8.3% from 204.
Who are Sands Castle's siblings?
Out of Light At Dawn (IRE), Sands Castle (IRE) has 3 other produce in our archive, 0 of them winners. As at Oct 2026.

Record shown from October 2025. Our archive holds racing in Great Britain, Ireland and France from January 2005. Runs in other countries are not in it, and earlier runs are not available from our data provider. In-running comments are available from 2024 onward.