Dragon Symbol looks the star the sprinting division desperately needs

No disrespect to Lazuli, an improving four-year-old who gave away weight all round to win at Newmarket on Saturday, but the British sprinting division looks moderate right now.

Sole Power, Marsha and Mabs Cross have graced the Palace House Stakes honour roll in the past decade but this year's field looked nowhere near up to that level.

With Battaash injured and not certain to make Royal Ascot, Glass Slippers seems best of the established speedsters but she looks likely to head back Stateside at the tail-end of the season in a bid to retain the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint and it could be a while before we see her.

The division is desperately in need of a fresh face and thankfully we may well have seen it at Hamilton on Sunday.

Dragon Symbol is an intriguing three-year-old. He's by a relatively new sire in Cable Bay, who has already sired a top-flight sprinter in Liberty Beach, and is owned by Yoshiro Kubota, who has enjoyed Graded success as an owner in Japan.

Dragon Symbol: galloped clear of his rivals at Hamilton on SundayCredit: Andrew Parker / John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

He is now unbeaten in four starts, the first three of which came on the all-weather, winning by a combined distance of 15 and three-quarter lengths.

On Sunday he proved his adaptability for five furlongs on turf and once again erupted away from his rivals, coming clear of Significantly to win easily in a time marginally quicker than the 71-rated Soul Seeker in the opener over the same course and distance.

He made an even bigger impression on the clock at Kempton when completing a hat-trick, recording a time 2.7 seconds quicker than the older horses in the preceding race and earning a Racing Post Rating of 102.

Between the fourth and fifth furlongs, Racing TV's data showed him recording an 11-second sectional that was later revealed to be marginally quicker upon calculation. This is something most horses cannot do.

Adam McNamara rode him publicly for the first time on Sunday having previously galloped him at home, and his post-race comment "he's going to win a big one very soon" was very telling.

So too was Archie Watson's decision to enter him in the King's Stand Stakes as well as the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot.

The trainer excels with sprinters, as he proved when producing Glen Shiel to win the Champions Sprint in October, and this colt could be similarly talented.

McNamara suggested the three-year-old race could be his target at Royal Ascot but Dragon Symbol doesn't seem fussed whether he races over five or six furlongs and, given his dam won over 1m2f and his sire ended his career winning a Group 2 over 7f, I doubt even further would be an issue either.

Mecca's Angel won the same Hamilton race in 2014 before landing the Nunthorpe in 2015 and 2016. Let's hope Dragon Symbol can tread a similar path.

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