Lady Mendoza returns to action this afternoon in Division I of the Class 5 Handicap Hurdle (17:22) over three miles at Perth.

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 returns to the track today for trainer Rebecca Menzies after a near two month break from competitive action. It's been a slightly frustrating period for the club's seven-year-old as her absence has been mainly down to poor weather and unfavourable ground conditions, as well as the three week break in the jumps calendar, rather than any proper issues with Lady Mendoza herself.

Lady Mendoza's career form has been consistent across her eight runs to date since making her debut for the club back in November 2022, finishing in the top three in half of her appearances, including a close second place finish three starts ago at Musselburgh.

Of her eight starts, two of them have been over a distance of around three miles, and she's finished third in each of those, one of which was a close two-length defeat at Cartmel in May which came off the back of a 177-day break. Having only lined up in two races over the extended trip, she's still relatively unexposed as a stayer, and the two contests that she's raced in over the three mile trip have been won by For Gina (won twice since and now rated 108) and Fautinette (rated 110).

WATCH: The Menzies Way

Back in January 2023, not long after the Coral Racing Club had launched, we visited Rebecca at Howe Hills in Sedgefield to find out first-hand how her operation works and what goes on there on a daily basis. From Brenda the rescue pony to trips to Redcar beach, tune in below to find out.

Lady Mendoza's regular partner, Nathan Moscrop, retains the ride this afternoon having taken the reins on our seven-year-old six times prior, meaning she's in familiar hands and that Nathan will have a good idea of how to get the best out of her.

Since receiving her first handicap mark (100) back in May last year, she's steadily been dropping down the weights despite putting in some decent efforts, and today she'll line up off of 95 which has her as the fourth highest rated horse in this 0-105 contest. It's quite eye-catching that Rebecca has decided to come back to Perth today following Lady Mendoza's solid effort over 2m4f here last time out, so hopefully she feels as if there is unfinished business at the Scottish track.

In Rebecca's latest update, she told us that Lady Mendoza had been "working well at home" recently, and that she believes that today's race is a winnable one for our mare, so fingers crossed she can put her best foot forward and go close to landing the club another winner.

Raceday message from Rebecca Menzies

"Lady Mendoza is in good form. She has not missed any work and she is fit. I think it's a winnable race she is in and she looks a decent price. It is 'Good To Soft' at the moment, but I'm hoping there is no more rain as she wouldn't want it too slow. That said, there will be no excuses when it comes to the ground, as she handle slow conditions.

There isn't a huge amount of pace in the race, and there's a chance she could go from the front and set her own pace. I will leave it to Nathan [Moscrop] to decide. Three miles in this sort of grade should be her bag.

Good luck everybody, fingers crossed she gets her head in front."

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 Perth this afternoon.

Each winner, along with a guest of their choosing, will receive free entry to Perth 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 £7,500 in total, with the winner set to scoop £3,961 for their lucky owners.

2nd: £1,822 | 3rd: £911 | 4th: £456 | 5th: £227

Trainer and jockey form

Rebecca Menzies has been more focussed on her flat runners recently, only fielding two horses in National Hunt races in the last fortnight, one of whom finished a close third in a handicap hurdle over two miles and six furlongs at Cartmel at the end of August. On the flat, her runners have fared quite well, with two winners and four placed finishers in 19 runs over the last two weeks. Perth is one of the summer jumps tracks that Rebecca frequents, with the County Durham-based trainer sending 94 runners there in her training career so far, returning with 10 winners and a further 17 in the places. 

Nathan Moscrop has been very quiet recently, only having three rides in the last three weeks, which is likely in part to the reduction in jumps meetings on the calendar at this time of the year. At Perth, he has a fairly modest record, posting six wins from 74 rides, one of which arrived from the seven rides he's had there this year.

Chris Dixon, Racing TV Analyst, shares his thoughts on Lady Mendoza and the competition she's set to face this afternoon.

Lady Mendoza

Lady Mendoza is yet to win but has been fairly consistent through her career so far and remains unexposed, especially at staying trips. She’ll be suited by the return to a longer distance having run with credit over 2m4f here when last seen in July in what was a better race than the one she finds herself in here. Her other two outings in the past 12 months were also in a higher grade and with her latest form given a boost by the runner-up Step Out who won next time, I’m expecting her to go fairly close today under conditions that should suit well in a race I feel lacks depth. 

Rest of the field

Bullion Boss is clearly in great form and chases a hattrick following wins at Market Rasen and then over this course and distance last time so has to be respected alongside Gino Drummer Boy who has to be worth at least a second look just on the basis of being trained by Gordon Elliot who has an outstanding record at this track. He’s been comfortably held in claiming races in Ireland recently but he hasn’t been disgraced and this longer trip could unlock some improvement. Iron Heart won his last start over hurdles and ran enough to suggest he remains in form on the Flat last time and is another to fear to a degree but this does look a decent opportunity for Lady Mendoza to gain a first win.

   17:22 PERTH – LATEST BETTING HERE   

We hope you enjoyed reading today's Raceday LIVE Preview. Don't forget to tune in just before 17:22 to watch Lady Mendoza's next run for the club live on the Coral Sports app.