Good afternoon from Newmarket. We are going to be doing quite a lot of miles this week in order to get our runners to the races, and the long distance travel begins with Perla Blanca heading to Ayr for the 5.45 this afternoon.
The now five-year-old daughter of Dalakhani had a mixed time of it last season, as she finished second in this very race and won cosily at Doncaster, as well as finishing the year with a terrific fourth at Newbury. However, those fine performances sandwiched a spell of stalls trouble, as she refused to load at Carlisle and Newbury, and as a result she now requires the help of the Withefords for loading. However, one way or another, she provided her regular pilot Sophie Smith with an awful lot of valuable experience.
The pair return to action in this very competitive mile and five furlong 0-65 amateur riders' handicap, in which Perla will have to carry top weight, albeit minus Sophie’s five pound claim. We know the course and distance suit and Perla seems to be in good form at home, but given that she hasn’t run since October we are under no illusions that she will come on a lot for the run.
Our only other runner today is Dancingwithwolves, who takes his chance in the mile and a quarter 0-75 handicap at Leicester at 5.10. Another horse who requires loading assistance, he was very buzzy last year, but is gradually calming down and learning to settle with racing. He has now had three runs to qualify for a mark, and today is the acid test to see whether or not he is competitively handicapped.
A mile and a quarter around Leicester should suit and although we are drawn wider than ideal in stall 10, we can hopefully drop him in and try to get some cover. I have been pleased with the horse’s progress and it will be interesting to see how he gets on in handicap company. Dan Muscutt continues his association with the horse and we hope for the best.
All the best,
Ed.