Steps In The Sand

The current form is the most exciting part of the story. In the last six races, Steps In The Sand has won twice, and the most recent three runs read 2-8-9 in reverse — meaning after a couple of quieter days, this horse came out and won. That last victory came at Galway on 1 August 2025, a track that tends to attract a good crowd and a competitive field, so there was nothing soft about that win. The horse raced just a day ago, which means it is bang in form and clearly thriving.

Ciaran Murphy trains the horse from his base in Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, and the yard has hit 18 winners already this season — a number that tells you this is not a small operation running on hope. Murphy clearly knows how to place a horse, and Steps In The Sand looks like a good example of that. The regular partnership with jockey E Walsh is worth noting too: they have won 2 of their 15 races together, roughly 1 in every 8, which is a solid working relationship at this level.

One detail that stands out is how the horse performs on normal ground conditions — 2 wins from just 9 races in those conditions works out at 22%, or roughly 1 in every 4-and-a-half races. That is the best win rate across any surface this horse encounters, and it is a meaningful edge. When the ground is right, Steps In The Sand is noticeably sharper. The career started at Dundalk in December 2022, and what has followed is a steady, durable journey through the ranks — not a horse that burst onto the scene, but one that has kept turning up, kept competing, and keeps finding a way to win.