Easterby looking for sprint hat-trick

Tim Easterby will bid to land his third Weatherbys Super Sprint at Newbury on Saturday with Danesmead.

The Malton trainer has won the valuable five-furlong dash in the past with Flanders in 1998 and with Good Girl two years ago.

Danesmead is a half-brother to Good Girl and clearly possesses some of her speed, as he showed when finishing second of 17 to Carrizo Creek in a six-furlong sales race at the Curragh at the end of last month.

Any rain in the Newbury area would assist his chances further.

“He’s in good form,” Easterby said. “Ideally he’d like a bit of cut in the ground. That would slow the others down a bit.

“It’s a very fast race, but if he can lay up with them, I think he’ll run a good race.”

Easterby is also hoping to run Somnus in the David Wilson Homes Stakes on the same card.

A smart juvenile last year Somnus returned to form with a convincing success at Haydock Park earlier this month.

Easterby added: “It was nice to see him back winning last week at Haydock and if they get a bit of rain he’ll run.”

His prayers could be answered, according to Newbury’s clerk of the course Richard Osgood.

He said: “The going description is still the same, good to firm, watering as necessary, but we are due to get some rain today – it’s spitting at the moment.

“We’ve decided not to do any watering today, and then we’ll look at it again after today.”