Raceday LIVE – Lady Mendoza
Hexham,
Fri 04 Oct 2024 16:05
Related horse(s):
Lady Mendoza
Lady Mendoza makes her long-awaited debut over fences this afternoon in the Class 5 Novices' Handicap Chase at Hexham (16:05) over three miles.
Read our Raceday LIVE Preview below and join us ahead of the race for all the build-up and live updates from the track with the team and Lady Mendoza's lucky owners for the day across our social channels on X (@coral) and Instagram (@coralofficial).
Raceday LIVE Preview
Lady Mendoza has only had three runs so far this year due to various reasons, but each time she's ran she's put in a very respectable effort with her form figures reading 3-4-4. Our seven-year-old mare opened her account this season with a promising third place finish at Cartmel – just two lengths behind the winner Fautinette – after racing prominently for the majority of the race before just fading towards the very end of the 3m1f trip. That effort landed her 10 lucky owners for the day just over £1,300 in prize money to share equally, so it was a positive result all round for the club.
📷 Lady Mendoza schooling at home under Nathan Moscrop
Her next outing was a drop in trip to 2m4f as the Menzies team headed north of the border to Perth, and she again put in a decent display from the front under Nathan Moscrop. As the pair came around the final bend and into the home straight, they were several lengths clear of the chasing pack along with the favourite, Step Out, but after a blunder at the second last, Lady Mendoza struggled to regain any momentum and eventually came home in 4th place.
WATCH: Post-race interview with Nathan Moscrop after Lady Mendoza's run at Perth
Lady Mendoza headed back to Perth for what would be her final race over hurdles for the time being last month, and yet again she put in a respectable, if not spectacular, performance to finish fourth once more. Since getting her opening handicap mark of 100 last year, she's gradually dropped in the ratings and is now on a mark of 94, which translates over for her chase debut this afternoon.
We're looking forward to seeing how Lady Mendoza takes to fences as she was successful in an Irish point-to-point race before moving to Rebecca Menzies' yard in the UK prior to her career under rules. Rebecca had considered sending her over fences a couple of times prior to today, so fingers crossed she enjoys the experience at Hexham and can get her chase debut off to a positive start.
Regular partner, Nathan Moscrop, takes the reins onboard our mare once more today, which will mark the eighth time he's done so in Lady Mendoza's 10 careers starts so far.
📷 Lady Mendoza being showed off at last month's stable visit at Howe Hills
Raceday Update from Rebecca Menzies
"Lady Mendoza did some schooling over fences earlier this week and I was delighted with her work. She really attacked the fences and was bold. I expect her to be ridden quite handy today at the front end of the field, as that will suit her.
It is a competitive race for the grade. Instant Gambler has won his last two races for Alexandra Dunn, but he will carry a 7lb penalty. There are a couple of horses with some decent form, while one or two may be lurking off a lower mark than they should be.
Lady Mendoza should love the track, and in a chase, she will like the fact that they will go a stride slower. I would say we will be going wide with her and not scraping the paint off the inside rail. This will give her a good view of her obstacles and not scare her. We won’t be wearing cheekpieces this time around. She has been quite fresh at home and not shown any signs of being distracted.
I don’t think we could have her in any better shape. She looks a million dollars, so I am expecting a big run. If she brings her best hurdles form to this race, she would be in the first three. I am told the ground is on the quick side of Good, which she will love. They have been piling on the water earlier this week but we’ve had a few days without rain up here so it will have dried out.
I am really looking forward to running Lady Mendoza. I will be there myself and I hope to see some of the Coral Racing Club owners in the parade ring."
Lady Mendoza's Owners for the Day
As winners of the Owner for the Day competition, 10 lucky Coral Racing Club members have been given the chance to enjoy an exclusive owners experience for Lady Mendoza's run at Hexham this afternoon.
Each winner, along with a guest of their choosing, will receive free entry to Hexham Racecourse, including exclusive access to Owners & Trainers areas. They'll have the opportunity to meet Lady Mendoza and the Rebecca Menzies team, plus get to head into the parade ring before the race begins to be amongst all the other owners, trainers and jockeys. And last but by no means least, each winner will get to take home an equal 10% split of any prize money won by Lady Mendoza.
Today's Class 5 contest is worth £9,850 in total, with the winner set to scoop £5,202 for their lucky owners.
2nd: £2,393 | 3rd: £1,196 | 4th: £598 | 5th: £298
Trainer and jockey form
Rebecca Menzies is in very good form at the moment, with five winners from her last 21 runners. However, all of these winners have been on the flat, and it's been over two weeks since she last recorded a victory under national hunt rules. She's had six winners over obstacles so far this season, and a further 25 place finishes. Hexham hasn't been a happy hunting ground for her this season though, with no winners from her 17 runners at the course to date this season. She has had success there in the past however, with 17 winners in her career coming at the Northumberland course.
Nathan Moscrop has continued to remain quiet in the last two weeks, only taking up six rides in that time period. He's had one winner from those rides though, at Kelso in mid-September. The jockey has ridden six total winners this season, with two of those coming at today's venue and in his career he's been on the top step a total of 16 times at Hexham.
Chris Dixon, Racing TV Analyst, breaks down today's race and previews Lady Mendoza's chances in the contest
Lady Mendoza makes her chase debut here after an encouraging enough return from a short break at Perth last time. As expected, Lady Mendoza appreciated the step back up to a staying trip that day but still seemed to find the race barely enough of a test and there’s a chance she progresses for the switch to a much stiffer track.
A winning point-to-pointer, she also has the potential to improve for going over fences for the first time under rules and with the yard in good form I’d expect her to be competitive, albeit in what could prove to be a fairly warm race for the grade.
Rest of the field
Steps Match was well ahead of her when taking that Perth race on his first start for his new stable almost four weeks ago and off just 2lbs higher he has a strong chance if repeating that form over fences – there’s no obvious reason he won’t.
Instant Gambler is a clear danger to all after taking his record over fences to 2/2 with a nine-length win at Fontwell and he's 7lbs well-in under his penalty so has to be regarded as the horse to beat for all this is a very different track to Fontwell.
So Be It is proven here after running better than he has for a while over course and distance last time but it was still only modest stuff and he’ll need to better that effort to go one better so more obvious contenders are the unexposed pair Somebody’s Fortune and Defence Witness who are feasibly treated on their hurdles form but like Lady Mendoza, have a background in pointing which suggests a switch to fences could bring about improvement.
At The Races | Timeform Verdict
A race which to some degree revolves around INSTANT GAMBLER who is 7lb well-in under a penalty for last week's comfortable Fontwell success. The chief threat may come from chase newcomers Lady Mendoza, whose stable landed this race in 2022, and Defence Witness, both of whom won in the pointing field at the start of their career.
16:05 HEXHAM – LATEST ODDS
We hope you enjoyed reading today's Raceday LIVE Preview. Don't forget to tune in just before 16:05 to watch Lady Mendoza's next run for the club live on the Coral Sports app.
Read our Raceday LIVE Preview below and join us ahead of the race for all the build-up and live updates from the track with the team and Lady Mendoza's lucky owners for the day across our social channels on X (@coral) and Instagram (@coralofficial).
Raceday LIVE Preview
Lady Mendoza has only had three runs so far this year due to various reasons, but each time she's ran she's put in a very respectable effort with her form figures reading 3-4-4. Our seven-year-old mare opened her account this season with a promising third place finish at Cartmel – just two lengths behind the winner Fautinette – after racing prominently for the majority of the race before just fading towards the very end of the 3m1f trip. That effort landed her 10 lucky owners for the day just over £1,300 in prize money to share equally, so it was a positive result all round for the club.
📷 Lady Mendoza schooling at home under Nathan Moscrop
Her next outing was a drop in trip to 2m4f as the Menzies team headed north of the border to Perth, and she again put in a decent display from the front under Nathan Moscrop. As the pair came around the final bend and into the home straight, they were several lengths clear of the chasing pack along with the favourite, Step Out, but after a blunder at the second last, Lady Mendoza struggled to regain any momentum and eventually came home in 4th place.
WATCH: Post-race interview with Nathan Moscrop after Lady Mendoza's run at Perth
Lady Mendoza headed back to Perth for what would be her final race over hurdles for the time being last month, and yet again she put in a respectable, if not spectacular, performance to finish fourth once more. Since getting her opening handicap mark of 100 last year, she's gradually dropped in the ratings and is now on a mark of 94, which translates over for her chase debut this afternoon.
We're looking forward to seeing how Lady Mendoza takes to fences as she was successful in an Irish point-to-point race before moving to Rebecca Menzies' yard in the UK prior to her career under rules. Rebecca had considered sending her over fences a couple of times prior to today, so fingers crossed she enjoys the experience at Hexham and can get her chase debut off to a positive start.
Regular partner, Nathan Moscrop, takes the reins onboard our mare once more today, which will mark the eighth time he's done so in Lady Mendoza's 10 careers starts so far.
📷 Lady Mendoza being showed off at last month's stable visit at Howe Hills
Raceday Update from Rebecca Menzies
"Lady Mendoza did some schooling over fences earlier this week and I was delighted with her work. She really attacked the fences and was bold. I expect her to be ridden quite handy today at the front end of the field, as that will suit her.
It is a competitive race for the grade. Instant Gambler has won his last two races for Alexandra Dunn, but he will carry a 7lb penalty. There are a couple of horses with some decent form, while one or two may be lurking off a lower mark than they should be.
Lady Mendoza should love the track, and in a chase, she will like the fact that they will go a stride slower. I would say we will be going wide with her and not scraping the paint off the inside rail. This will give her a good view of her obstacles and not scare her. We won’t be wearing cheekpieces this time around. She has been quite fresh at home and not shown any signs of being distracted.
I don’t think we could have her in any better shape. She looks a million dollars, so I am expecting a big run. If she brings her best hurdles form to this race, she would be in the first three. I am told the ground is on the quick side of Good, which she will love. They have been piling on the water earlier this week but we’ve had a few days without rain up here so it will have dried out.
I am really looking forward to running Lady Mendoza. I will be there myself and I hope to see some of the Coral Racing Club owners in the parade ring."
Lady Mendoza's Owners for the Day
As winners of the Owner for the Day competition, 10 lucky Coral Racing Club members have been given the chance to enjoy an exclusive owners experience for Lady Mendoza's run at Hexham this afternoon.
Each winner, along with a guest of their choosing, will receive free entry to Hexham Racecourse, including exclusive access to Owners & Trainers areas. They'll have the opportunity to meet Lady Mendoza and the Rebecca Menzies team, plus get to head into the parade ring before the race begins to be amongst all the other owners, trainers and jockeys. And last but by no means least, each winner will get to take home an equal 10% split of any prize money won by Lady Mendoza.
Today's Class 5 contest is worth £9,850 in total, with the winner set to scoop £5,202 for their lucky owners.
2nd: £2,393 | 3rd: £1,196 | 4th: £598 | 5th: £298
Trainer and jockey form
Rebecca Menzies is in very good form at the moment, with five winners from her last 21 runners. However, all of these winners have been on the flat, and it's been over two weeks since she last recorded a victory under national hunt rules. She's had six winners over obstacles so far this season, and a further 25 place finishes. Hexham hasn't been a happy hunting ground for her this season though, with no winners from her 17 runners at the course to date this season. She has had success there in the past however, with 17 winners in her career coming at the Northumberland course.
Nathan Moscrop has continued to remain quiet in the last two weeks, only taking up six rides in that time period. He's had one winner from those rides though, at Kelso in mid-September. The jockey has ridden six total winners this season, with two of those coming at today's venue and in his career he's been on the top step a total of 16 times at Hexham.
Chris Dixon, Racing TV Analyst, breaks down today's race and previews Lady Mendoza's chances in the contest
Lady Mendoza makes her chase debut here after an encouraging enough return from a short break at Perth last time. As expected, Lady Mendoza appreciated the step back up to a staying trip that day but still seemed to find the race barely enough of a test and there’s a chance she progresses for the switch to a much stiffer track.
A winning point-to-pointer, she also has the potential to improve for going over fences for the first time under rules and with the yard in good form I’d expect her to be competitive, albeit in what could prove to be a fairly warm race for the grade.
Rest of the field
Steps Match was well ahead of her when taking that Perth race on his first start for his new stable almost four weeks ago and off just 2lbs higher he has a strong chance if repeating that form over fences – there’s no obvious reason he won’t.
Instant Gambler is a clear danger to all after taking his record over fences to 2/2 with a nine-length win at Fontwell and he's 7lbs well-in under his penalty so has to be regarded as the horse to beat for all this is a very different track to Fontwell.
So Be It is proven here after running better than he has for a while over course and distance last time but it was still only modest stuff and he’ll need to better that effort to go one better so more obvious contenders are the unexposed pair Somebody’s Fortune and Defence Witness who are feasibly treated on their hurdles form but like Lady Mendoza, have a background in pointing which suggests a switch to fences could bring about improvement.
At The Races | Timeform Verdict
A race which to some degree revolves around INSTANT GAMBLER who is 7lb well-in under a penalty for last week's comfortable Fontwell success. The chief threat may come from chase newcomers Lady Mendoza, whose stable landed this race in 2022, and Defence Witness, both of whom won in the pointing field at the start of their career.
16:05 HEXHAM – LATEST ODDS
We hope you enjoyed reading today's Raceday LIVE Preview. Don't forget to tune in just before 16:05 to watch Lady Mendoza's next run for the club live on the Coral Sports app.
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