Lady Mendoza makes her return to action this afternoon in the Class 4 Novices' Hurdle (14:15) over two miles and four furlongs 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 made her first start of the year at the end of May at Cartmel following several months away from action after finishing second at Musselburgh in November last year. Given it was her first run in 177 days, she put in a really encouraging display to finish third, just two lengths behind the eventual winner, Fautinette. It was exactly the sort of performance we've grown to expect from our seven-year-old mare, as she kept to the task well and kept up with two runners who had been much more active throughout the spring.

Following that race, Rebecca was keen to run her again soon, but unfortunately Lady Mendoza was found to have a blister inside one of her hooves which postponed her planned return as she needed some time to recover and for the team to make sure that, once healed, there was no infection and that our mare wasn't feeling any ill effects from the injury. 

WATCH: Lady Mendoza gets a visit from the farrier

Thankfully, it was a straightforward recovery process and Lady Mendoza healed quickly, allowing the team at Howe Hills to get her back on the track for some summer jumping. The initial plan was another race at Cartmel, over the same course and distance as her run in May, however Rebecca Menzies opted for this option at Perth today with conditions to suit. (Currently Good)

Lady Mendoza has ran over several different distances since making her debut for the club back in November 2022, but today she's going to be dropped back in trip from 3m1f to 2m4f as she heads back into novice company following four efforts in handicaps. 

Raceday message from Rebecca Menzies

"It wasn’t our original plan to drop back into novice company with Lady Mendoza, but some of the novice hurdles in the north of late have been incredibly weak, so I thought it was worth running her today at Perth. There is obviously an odds-on favourite of Stuart Crawford’s in there which we were hoping wasn’t going to run, but you should never be afraid of one horse, and I wouldn’t say his form is streets ahead of what Lady Mendoza has achieved.

Although Jaqueline Coward’s runner Pop The Question won last time out at Hexham, that was a poor race, so I wouldn’t be too afraid of her either. She’s in such good form Lady Mendoza, and the ground is going to be perfect for her, so I just thought it was worth rolling the dice in pursuit of her first win for us.

She does come back to two and a half miles, but it’s a trip she’s performed well over before so I’m not worried about that, and I’m hoping at the very least she can pick up some good prize money for the Coral Racing Club members."

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 4 contest is worth £7,500 in total, with the winner set to scoop £4,085 for their lucky owners.

2nd: £1,881.75 | 3rd: £940.50 | 4th: £471

Trainer and jockey form

Rebecca Menzies has had a relatively busy time of it recently, running horses both on the flat and over jumps. Her last winner came in a five furlong race at Carlisle just over a week ago, and her last jumps winner was at the end of June at Cartmel. In her career, she's had 91 runners at Perth resulting in ten victories, with one of those victories coming from four runs this year.  

Nathan Moscrop has had a quiet couple of weeks in the saddle, only picking up two rides in the last fortnight. He finished third on one for Rebecca Menzies at the end of June, and rode an unfancied Alison Hamilton-trained horse (250/1) to a solid sixth place finish at Perth ten days ago. From 70 career rides so far at Perth, he's picked up five winners and ridden 14 into the places. Nathan is a jockey who is frequently used by trainer Rebecca Menzies, and he has ridden Lady Mendoza six times out of her eight starts to date, so it's great to have him onboard again today.

WATCH: A jockey's journey with Nathan Moscrop

Tune in as we get up close and personal with Rebecca Menzies' stable jockey, Nathan Moscrop, to find out how he became a jockey, and how his career has continued on an upward curve since joining Rebecca at Howe Hills.

(This video was first published in December 2022)

At The Races | Verdict

Although unseating his rider at the second last hurdle at Downpatrick last month, STEP OUT looked likely to play a leading role in the finish. Previous efforts in defeat in this discipline suggest that the five-year-old should take plenty of beating and a first career success could be on the cards. The biggest threat may emerge from the Rebecca Menzies-trained Lady Mendoza, who was beaten only two lengths when third at Cartmel in May. Hurdles debutant Backdoorflush is also noted.

Today's opposition

 

• Step Out heads the market for the Crawford team who is still seeking his first win following seven efforts, including three second places finishes. He was travelling well when unseating last time out and will be looking to make amends.
  
  
• Backdoorflush hasn't been seen in over 200 days and comes here to make her hurdles debut for Honeysuckle's owner, Kenny Alexander. Following a promising second on debut she was sent to Cheltenham for a Listed flat race but struggled to make any impact, however, if she takes to hurdles, she could prove a real threat today.
  
  
• Pop The Question is the only previous winner to line up today following a surprise victory at 50/1 last month. However, her trainer was quoted after the race saying that she "always knew that if she got her ground she'd run well", so it'll be interesting to see if she can back that performance up today with Sean Quinlan taking the reins from Brian Hughes.

   14:15 PERTH – LATEST BETTING HERE   

We hope you enjoyed reading today's Raceday LIVE Preview. Don't forget to tune in just before 14:15 to watch Lady Mendoza's next run for the club live on the Coral Sports app.