We were absolutely delighted with Lady Mendoza’s run at Newcastle last week. I was made up with her at the time, but having watched the replay back a few times, I was even happier with how game she was, and how well she battled. As I said before the race, a lot of our horses have improved markedly from their first run, so we’d expect her to take a step forward from that effort, so I was just delighted to see how well she did, and how hard she tried.

We’ve given her a few easy days since, and having looked at the programme, there doesn’t seem to be many suitable opportunities for her between now and Christmas. There is a race at Wetherby on Boxing Day that we’d consider, but the ground can get very testing there, and I’d rather not run her on very heavy ground at this stage, so we might look at the Novices’ Hurdle at Musselburgh on the 19th December. It’s a course that drains well, so the ground shouldn’t be too testing, and although she’d be taking on the boys, she’d be in receipt of the mares’ allowance, so that’s the race we have in mind for her next.

All in all, I couldn’t be happier with how she’s been since Newcastle, and I can’t wait to run her again as soon as there’s a suitable race for her.