Horse Racing: Verbeeck looks to break duck at Sandown on back of fine form

Ed McMAHON certainly knows how to handle sprinters and he could have another useful one on his hands in the shape of Verbeeck, who looks the best bet on the card in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden Stakes at Sandown.

McMahon already houses Astrophysical Jet, who will be looking to bounce back from a poor reappearance, for which she had excuses at Ascot, and Noble Storm.

And Verbeeck, who has had the double misfortune to bump into two well above-average recruits on his first two starts, may be capable of holding his own in smart company later in his career.

A son of the very speedy Dutch Art, he was a green as grass on his debut at Bath when third behind John Hills' B Fifty Two. The winner has since gone on to prove how good he is by beating Richard Hannon's Lilbourne Lad, subsequently a six-length winner of a Listed race in Ireland.

With that under his belt McMahon could have been forgiven for thinking his next race was a formality but he came up against Brian Meehan's St Barths. Verbeeck managed to make Meehan's colt work hard for his win but the winner is now heading for Ascot.

So taking all his form as relative, Verbeeck is surely going to break his duck at Sandown tomorrow.