Sunny Friday At Newcastle

The second race at Newcastle, a 5f 2yo handicap, sees a host of unexposed juveniles taking each other on in what looks a wide open race. One filly that caught my eye on one of her maiden runs was Sunnyhills Belford, who ran a lovely race on debut at 50/1, slowly away and finishing well for fourth. That effort came on good ground at Hamilton, and she wasn't so good next time at a much shorter price at the same track. Whether the soft ground was to blame is debatable, as she reared at the start and lost all chance. Her last maiden run, over 6f at Ripon, was also poor and it looked as if the 6f didn't suit.

She drops back down to 5f for her handicap debut today, and while the good to soft ground might put some people off due to her poor maiden runs on it, I don't think it will pose a problem. Her pedigree screams that easy ground should suit, and her sire Monsieur Bond has produced plenty of soft ground winners. Her half brother has won on yielding ground, and her Zamindar dam is a half sister to Fast Shot, who loves a bit of juice in the ground.

Her trainer Noel Wilson is a small operator that trains out of Yorkshire, and he has had three winners at Newcastle in the past five seasons. Barry McHugh is booked for the ride today, and he is 4/32 for Wilson since 2011. She has been allocated a mark of just 53 for her handicap debut, and at her current price of 14/1 surely it is worth giving her another chance to fulfil the promise of her opening effort.

STEVOS' SELECTION: SUNNYHILLS BELFORD (14/1)