All-Weather Sprint Final

The big all-weather sprint race of the year is the All-Weather Sprint Final at Lingfield. Here we look at some of the best odds and offers available and provide our betting tips for this contest.

Friday sees the return of one of the most welcome additions to the racing calendar of the past few years, as Lingfield Park once again plays host to all-weather finals day. With a whopping £1 million in prize money on offer across a card of Class 2 contests, this event has proven popular with trainers, owners and punters alike since its inception in 2014. Here we take a look at the days big sprint event.

All-Weather Sprint Final Tips 2019

The advent of the All Weather Championships has brought real improvement to the all-weather action in Britain. Some very high class flat racing horses now compete all year round with connections tempted by the prize money on offer. In total, £1 million is on the line across the races taking place on Finals Day on Good Friday including £150,000 for the All Weather Sprint Final. The 6 furlong contest will see a maximum field of 12 competing at Lingfield in what promises to be a thrilling climax to the sprinting division’s all weather season.

Kachy to Put Last Year and the Competition Behind Him

Kachy is one of those in the field for the All Weather Sprint Final who is adept at competing on both the all weather and turf. Tom Dascombe’s six-year-old is particularly strong on courses that include sharp bends so is one to keep an eye on as the flat turf season really kicks into gear. For now though, connections are fully focused on the all weather and doing everything possible to ensure that Kachy justifies his position at the head of the betting, something he was unable to do last season.

Kachy’s problems in this race 12 months ago came right at the start. He was slowly out of the blocks and although he managed to claw back the distance between himself and City Light the effort required robbed him of his usual explosiveness in the closing stages. Kachy was a very comfortable second place suggesting that he would have won were it not for that poor start. Connections and bookmakers alike believe that he will be able to make up for that mistake on Saturday.

The best price you can get on Kachy winning the All Weather Sprint Final is the 4/5 that Paddy Power are quoting. That may look a little short given that every horse in the field has had to qualify in one of the series’ competitive qualifiers but Kachy does look to be a cut above so his support in the betting is more than justified.

Barron’s Globe Trotter Good Value for a Place

Many flat racing trainers keep their stable stars in action over the British winter by sending them to compete in tracks around the world. David Barron fancied the chances of Above The Rest in some valuable races in Dubai but his eight-year-old had only moderate success in his two races at Meydan in January.

There is always a bit of risk when sending a horse to compete internationally but Above The Rest showed no ill effects of his Dubai exploits when winning his first race upon his return at Wolverhampton in March. His performance in that win sets Above The Rest up nicely for his first crack at the All Weather Sprint Final. His odds of 12/1 with BetVictor are certainly tempting for an each way bet.

Race History

2014 marked the first year that racing was held on the traditional blank day of Good Friday. Part of the remit here was the provision of racing of a sufficiently high quality to warrant adding Good Friday to the fixture list.

Enter the All-Weather Championships. Prior to the introduction of this scheme, all-weather racing lacked the traditional seasonal finale of its jumping and flat turf tracing counterparts. Jumping has the Cheltenham Festival, flat racing has Champions Day and now the all-weather has the All-Weather Championship Finals Day at Lingfield Park.

With excellent prize money of over £1million over the seven races on the card, the event has proven popular with owners, trainers, jockeys and fans. There are various finals on offer from sprint trips all the way up to the All-Weather Marathon over two miles. In order to qualify for a final, a horse must run at least three times on the all-weather during the qualifying period and achieve a sufficiently high rating to get into the race, or alternatively win one of the fast track qualifiers during this period. In order to encompass as broad a spectrum of the all-weather racing world as possible, fast track qualifiers are held at the domestic tracks of Lingfield, Wolverhampton, Kempton and Chelmsford, as well as Dundalk in Ireland and Cagnes Sur Mer and Deauville in France.

The All-Weather Sprint Final is run over 6f on Lingfield’s left handed, polytrack course. With total prize money of £150,000, it is the UK’s richest all-weather sprint race for horses aged four years and older.

The inaugural winner of the contest was the six-year-old Alben Star for trainer Richard Fahey and jockey Paul Hanagan. Alben Star put in a bold bid to defend his crown when second to Pretend in 2015.

The first two winners of this race differ in just about every regard. Pretend was a relatively lightly raced four year old whereas Alben Star was an established six-year-old performer. Pretend qualified by virtue of winning a fast track qualifier at Lingfield, Alben Star had never previously won at the track and got in via the three qualifying runs criteria. Pretend won as a well fancied 6/5f whereas Alben Star was a 25/1 shock result. Just about the only characteristic they have in common is that each of their sires and dam sires were Irish. No doubt stats and trends will emerge as this contest grows to become an established part of the calendar year.