Andesite shows Royal Ascot potential in York victory

Andesite may have earned himself a place on Karl Burke’s Royal Ascot team after making a winning debut in the Frank Whittle Partnership ebfstallions.com Novice Stakes at York.

A half-brother to the stable’s 2022 Queen Mary heroine Dramatised, the 7-2 chance showed plenty of tenacity to go with his undoubted talent to deny Yah Mo Be There by a short head under Danny Tudhope.

As well as being a notable winner in his own right, Andesite is also a first winner for former champion two-year-old Pinatubo as a sire.

Burke said: “If I’m honest I was quite surprised he battled back because he hasn’t been off the bridle at home so that’s the first time and I thought we were beaten, so fair play to him.

“He’s a lovely horse, but I heard Richard Fahey say the other day that a lot of good horses do things easy at home and then first time out they often don’t know what to do and Newmarket horses have often been on the grass a lot more, especially with the wet winter.

“I’ll speak to Steve (Parkin, owner) about Royal Ascot, but he’s certainly worthy of going there.”