Raceday LIVE – Lady Mendoza
Market Rasen,
Thu 05 Dec 2024 13:45
Related horse(s):
Lady Mendoza
Lady Mendoza returns over hurdles this afternoon in the Class 5 Handicap Hurdle (13:45) over 2m7f at Market Rasen.
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 heads back over hurdles for the first time since September this afternoon after competing in three chase contests this autumn. The plan was always to go chasing with Lady Mendoza, but nothing is ever certain in horse racing, and that proved to be the case with our mare as she clearly hasn't enjoyed jumping fences as much as we'd have hoped for in any of her three appearances over them so far.
Her chase debut came at Hexham in October, where she came home in 8th place. The race in itself wasn't as disappointing as the result would suggest, as Hexham is a tough track with undulations all around it, and losing a couple of lengths at the start before making an early jumping error, Lady Mendoza just struggled to make up the ground she had lost. She did stick to the task and completed the race in a solid enough fashion, given the tumultuous nature of the beginning of the contest.
Fast forward to Mid-November and Lady Mendoza was stepped up in trip for a race at Sedgefield, with the thought that maybe she was outpaced at times in races over shorter distances. This again, however, proved not to be the case, as after starting well she began to show signs of fading after a circuit. That wasn't the end of her run though, and she did continue to stay on throughout the remainder of the contest, but unfortunately couldn't make up any of the distance that she lost after hitting the flat spot.
WATCH: Ross Chapman gives his thoughts on Lady Mendoza's performance at Sedgefield
Following that race, the decision was made to send Lady Mendoza back over hurdles, in the hope that it could spark some life back into her and give her the confidence she needs to get back on track. With that in mind, and with our mare being fresh and ready to go, today's opportunity at Market Rasen was found and would appear to be a good opportunity for her to run well.
Her hurdling form was very consistent prior to her switch to fences, including two second place finishes and two third place finishes in nine runs. Her last run of 2023 was arguably one of her best, where she finished less than two lengths down in second place at Musselburgh over 2m4f, which arguably isn't her ideal trip. She then followed that up with another solid third place finish at Cartmel after an extended break, having looked like she might go onto win before just getting outstayed by her two rivals.
Lady Mendoza and Nathan Moscrop schooling at Howe Hills
The ground is set to be Good To Soft at Market Rasen this afternoon, which should suit her well, and her regular partner Nathan Moscrop is also back in the saddle. He hasn't ridden her the last two times she's been out over fences, but given he was the jockey who has ridden her in most of her best performances to date, it can only be seen as a positive going into today's race.
Pre-Race message from Rebecca Menzies
"There's been no change in Lady Mendoza at home, she still seems very enthusiastic, she looks well and looks brilliant in her coat. I'm hoping that she enjoys the hurdles more, and that enables her to travel better and look happier in the race.
We've left off the visor and the blinkers but put the cheekpieces back on. I think forcing her probably has the opposite effect of what we want, so we'll try and keep the bit high in her mouth and ride her handy.
Ultimately she is her own entity at this point and based on her homework she should be able to win a race like this, even on ground that we think might be too slow for her. The ground might slow the rest of them down and enable her to travel into the race a bit better.
Good luck to the Coral Racing Club Members going down to Market Rasen today!"
Chris Dixon, Racing TV Analyst, gives his take on how today's race could shape up for Lady Mendoza and her opponents
Lady Mendoza has surprisingly not really taken to chasing in her three starts so far over fences so now switches back to hurdles in a bid to rekindle her enthusiasm. With her stable in form and the ground conditions suitable over a trip that looks ideal there’s plenty in her favour off a rating that his 3lbs lower than for her last start in this sphere. The sharp track is a slight concern for one who doesn’t often travel with a huge amount of zip, but she ran well at Musselburgh in November of last year over a much shorter trip so perhaps it isn’t a factor to worry about.
In terms of opposition, this isn’t a strong race but a case can be made for the likes of Entity Of Substanz, Ithaka, Getaway With You and Walk My Way. The last named is very lowly rated and would’ve won with a cleaner jump at the last on her latest run in March but there’s a strong chance she’ll need the run on her first start of the season. Getaway With You is a long-standing maiden but seems to have improved slightly on recent starts over this longer trip and went very close at Lingfield a week ago – she should go well off a 1lb lower mark. Better was clearly expected from Entity Of Substanz when well-backed for his handicap debut at Ayr last time, but there wasn’t any improvement on his previous form. He has a lot of stamina in his pedigree and I suspect there’s a good chance he does show improvement here with the cheekpieces on for the first time. He looks the horse to beat. Ithaka has been running well and represents a stable that have won this race twice in recent seasons so also warrants respect.
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 Market Rasen this afternoon.
Each winner, along with a guest of their choosing, will receive free entry to Market Rasen 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 £7,000 in total, with the winner set to scoop £3,696 for their lucky owners.
2nd: £1,701 | 3rd: £850 | 4th: £425 | 5th: £212
Trainer and jockey form
Rebecca Menzies has been busy recently, sending out 28 runners in the last fortnight on both the flat and over the jumps, returning with four winners (all of which were in National Hunt contests). Her most recent successes came on the second day of Musselburgh's opening jumps meeting, where she landed a double on the day. She's got good form at Market Rasen too, having saddled 14 winners from 89 runners at the course in her career, with two of those coming from 14 runners this season.
Nathan Moscrop has been in quieter form, splitting his time mainly between riding for Rebecca Menzies and Susan Corbett. He rode one of Rebecca Menzies' winners at Musselburgh last week, his only success in the last fortnight, and rode one second place finisher for Brian Ellison at Catterick in November. He's ridden 67 winners from 582 rides for Rebecca Menzies in his career, with six of those winners coming this season. At Market Rasen, the jockey has recorded 11 winners from 83 appearances, with one of those coming this season.
13:45 MARKET RASEN – LATEST ODDS
We hope you enjoyed reading today's Raceday LIVE Preview. Don't forget to tune in just before 13:45 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 heads back over hurdles for the first time since September this afternoon after competing in three chase contests this autumn. The plan was always to go chasing with Lady Mendoza, but nothing is ever certain in horse racing, and that proved to be the case with our mare as she clearly hasn't enjoyed jumping fences as much as we'd have hoped for in any of her three appearances over them so far.
Her chase debut came at Hexham in October, where she came home in 8th place. The race in itself wasn't as disappointing as the result would suggest, as Hexham is a tough track with undulations all around it, and losing a couple of lengths at the start before making an early jumping error, Lady Mendoza just struggled to make up the ground she had lost. She did stick to the task and completed the race in a solid enough fashion, given the tumultuous nature of the beginning of the contest.
Fast forward to Mid-November and Lady Mendoza was stepped up in trip for a race at Sedgefield, with the thought that maybe she was outpaced at times in races over shorter distances. This again, however, proved not to be the case, as after starting well she began to show signs of fading after a circuit. That wasn't the end of her run though, and she did continue to stay on throughout the remainder of the contest, but unfortunately couldn't make up any of the distance that she lost after hitting the flat spot.
WATCH: Ross Chapman gives his thoughts on Lady Mendoza's performance at Sedgefield
Her hurdling form was very consistent prior to her switch to fences, including two second place finishes and two third place finishes in nine runs. Her last run of 2023 was arguably one of her best, where she finished less than two lengths down in second place at Musselburgh over 2m4f, which arguably isn't her ideal trip. She then followed that up with another solid third place finish at Cartmel after an extended break, having looked like she might go onto win before just getting outstayed by her two rivals.
Lady Mendoza and Nathan Moscrop schooling at Howe Hills
The ground is set to be Good To Soft at Market Rasen this afternoon, which should suit her well, and her regular partner Nathan Moscrop is also back in the saddle. He hasn't ridden her the last two times she's been out over fences, but given he was the jockey who has ridden her in most of her best performances to date, it can only be seen as a positive going into today's race.
Pre-Race message from Rebecca Menzies
"There's been no change in Lady Mendoza at home, she still seems very enthusiastic, she looks well and looks brilliant in her coat. I'm hoping that she enjoys the hurdles more, and that enables her to travel better and look happier in the race.
We've left off the visor and the blinkers but put the cheekpieces back on. I think forcing her probably has the opposite effect of what we want, so we'll try and keep the bit high in her mouth and ride her handy.
Ultimately she is her own entity at this point and based on her homework she should be able to win a race like this, even on ground that we think might be too slow for her. The ground might slow the rest of them down and enable her to travel into the race a bit better.
Good luck to the Coral Racing Club Members going down to Market Rasen today!"
Chris Dixon, Racing TV Analyst, gives his take on how today's race could shape up for Lady Mendoza and her opponents
Lady Mendoza has surprisingly not really taken to chasing in her three starts so far over fences so now switches back to hurdles in a bid to rekindle her enthusiasm. With her stable in form and the ground conditions suitable over a trip that looks ideal there’s plenty in her favour off a rating that his 3lbs lower than for her last start in this sphere. The sharp track is a slight concern for one who doesn’t often travel with a huge amount of zip, but she ran well at Musselburgh in November of last year over a much shorter trip so perhaps it isn’t a factor to worry about.
In terms of opposition, this isn’t a strong race but a case can be made for the likes of Entity Of Substanz, Ithaka, Getaway With You and Walk My Way. The last named is very lowly rated and would’ve won with a cleaner jump at the last on her latest run in March but there’s a strong chance she’ll need the run on her first start of the season. Getaway With You is a long-standing maiden but seems to have improved slightly on recent starts over this longer trip and went very close at Lingfield a week ago – she should go well off a 1lb lower mark. Better was clearly expected from Entity Of Substanz when well-backed for his handicap debut at Ayr last time, but there wasn’t any improvement on his previous form. He has a lot of stamina in his pedigree and I suspect there’s a good chance he does show improvement here with the cheekpieces on for the first time. He looks the horse to beat. Ithaka has been running well and represents a stable that have won this race twice in recent seasons so also warrants respect.
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 Market Rasen this afternoon.
Each winner, along with a guest of their choosing, will receive free entry to Market Rasen 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 £7,000 in total, with the winner set to scoop £3,696 for their lucky owners.
2nd: £1,701 | 3rd: £850 | 4th: £425 | 5th: £212
Trainer and jockey form
Rebecca Menzies has been busy recently, sending out 28 runners in the last fortnight on both the flat and over the jumps, returning with four winners (all of which were in National Hunt contests). Her most recent successes came on the second day of Musselburgh's opening jumps meeting, where she landed a double on the day. She's got good form at Market Rasen too, having saddled 14 winners from 89 runners at the course in her career, with two of those coming from 14 runners this season.
Nathan Moscrop has been in quieter form, splitting his time mainly between riding for Rebecca Menzies and Susan Corbett. He rode one of Rebecca Menzies' winners at Musselburgh last week, his only success in the last fortnight, and rode one second place finisher for Brian Ellison at Catterick in November. He's ridden 67 winners from 582 rides for Rebecca Menzies in his career, with six of those winners coming this season. At Market Rasen, the jockey has recorded 11 winners from 83 appearances, with one of those coming this season.
13:45 MARKET RASEN – LATEST ODDS
We hope you enjoyed reading today's Raceday LIVE Preview. Don't forget to tune in just before 13:45 to watch Lady Mendoza's next run for the club live on the Coral Sports app.
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