Pyla: overcame a difficult trip to win at Lingfield.
A slow break, a rough passage and an unfavourable trip. Three factors conspired against Pyla in the mile handicap at Lingfield on Saturday, but she managed to overcome the trio of obstacles with aplomb, registering her first win at the sixth attempt when fending off Knight Of The Air by half a length.
Ridden for the first time by Oisin Murphy, Pyla was returning from a two-month break having finished third at the course over an extra furlong and a half in June. She was niggled along early following a tardy beginning, but found herself bang in the thick of things when the pace increased well beyond halfway.
Angled out to make her challenge, Pyla was knocked sideways inside the two, surrendering both ground and momentum as the Mick Channon-trained Knight In The Air appeared to have stolen first run. But gathered up by a power-packed Murphy, she made a relentless challenge inside the last, taking the lead inside the final 100 yards and appearing in no danger thereafter.
Congratulations her owners, the Hoofmark Partnership, who have patiently waited for quick ground and the right race with this filly. Given how the race was run at the weekend, and the fact she is a half-sister to the late-maturing Chapter And Verse, it would be no surprise if she proved capable of defying a small rise. Now is the time to strike with her when the ground remains on the top side.