IT may be tempting to regard Sands Of Mali’s win in the British Champions Sprint at 28/1, following three fairly ignominious unplaced efforts, as a fluke, but time analysis suggests otherwise.

An overall time of 1m 14.21s was not only fast on the day but fairly fast historically, and the winner’s last two furlongs of approximately 24.55s (100.8% finishing speed) confirms that this was a well-run affair in which he kept going much better than at times in the past.