It was an action-packed few days for the club last week as Aspire To Glory and Phoenix Of Dreams both featured at Chepstow on Thursday evening, followed by Lady Mendoza who was having just her second run of the year at Perth on Sunday.

Phoenix Of Dreams got things underway at Chepstow in their opening race on the card, the PTL Luxury Hire Apprentice Handicap (17:15) over seven furlongs, and he once again proved what an honest young horse he is by finishing in the places for the third time running.

Apprentice Jockey, Gianluca Sanna, who has been riding him at home, took the reins for the first time in competitive action on Thursday, and the pair broke well from the stalls as Phoenix Of Dreams travelled nicely throughout the first half of the contest. When they hit the four furlong pole, Gianluca started to ask for more, which Phoenix Of Dreams responded to, but there was no stopping the eventual winner, Miss Information, who seemed to really enjoy the decent ground.

Phoenix Of Dreams stuck to his task and finished a solid second, three and a quarter lengths behind Miss Information and one and a quarter lengths ahead of third, Silver Trumpet. That result landed £1,970 in prize money for his lucky 10 Owners for the Day, which each of them got to take 10% each home.


Phoenix Of Dreams in the Winners Enclosure

Phoenix Of Dreams has come out of the race in good order, and trainer Sean Quinn is wasting no time in trying to find him his next opportunity which could be at Haydock later this week. He has been entered in the Class 4 Maiden Stakes (16:25) on Friday and the Class 4 Handicap (20:00) on Saturday.

Later on the card at Chepstow saw Aspire To Glory take his place in the PTL Handicap (20:10) over seven furlongs, and he bounced back from his disappointing run at Leicester by finishing a much improved third (12 ran).

Aspire To Glory before heading to Chepstow

Trainer Alice Haynes shared her thoughts on the race:

"Aspire To Glory came out of his race with no issues and ran fine without being at his absolute best. The winner has won easily having had the rail and made full use of it, and I just think Aspire wasn’t quite sharp enough for seven in those circumstances.

If we ran him over seven furlongs again I would switch the headgear around, but the positive is he still shaped like he’s in good form and has races in him.

Leicester on very quick ground aside he’s been very consistent for a while now and will continue to go to the races with his chance every time."

Aspire To Glory's efforts secured his lucky 10 Owners for the Day £590 in prize money to share, which again each of them got to take 10% each home.

WATCH: Post-race interview with jockey Darragh Keenan
And last but by no means least, we headed all the way to Perth on Sunday to see Lady Mendoza make just her second competitive start of 2024 for trainer Rebecca Menzies in the Class 4 Parklands Hotel Perth Novices' Hurdle (14:15) over 2m4f.

Her frequent partner Nathan Moscrop was in the saddle again, and it was clear to see after the first couple of hurdles they were keen to get on with things as he let our seven-year-old mare bound out in front. In no time at all they were 10 lengths clear of the pack, but Nathan was giving Lady Mendoza enough opportunities to get a breather in before getting her to press on again.

She jumped well for the most part, barring a couple of minor blemishes, and as they turned for home it looked as though she might be able to really throw it down to those just in behind, but as they continued to run down the home straight, her tank started to empty. The 10/11 favourite, Step Out, took it up after the second last hurdle, and it looked as though he had the race sewn up, but the well-backed second string from Lucinda Russell's yard, Kandor, had other thoughts. Patrick Wadge galvanised his mount, and following a flying leap at the last, he was able to clinch victory in the shadows of the winning post.

Despite Lady Mendoza running out of steam down the home straight, she still managed to stay on well enough to come home in fourth place, earning her lucky 10 Owners for the Day £380 in prize money to share.

WATCH: Post-race interview with jockey Nathan Moscrop
Following the race, Rebecca told us that she knew it was probably a slight risk dropping Lady Mendoza back into novice company, but with the ground conditions being near perfect, which isn't likely to be the case over the next couple of weeks with the deluge of rain set to hit the UK, she felt it was an opportunity she couldn't miss.

Rebecca also mentioned that a first attempt over fences may not be off the cards soon as she believes going over the bigger obstacles will allow her to travel better, so we'll be sure to keep everyone updated if that is to be the case.

This week's runners

The action doesn't stop there, and we could be set for another exciting week with plenty of entries across the Coral Racing Club stable.

Sycamore – Nottingham 17:20 (Tuesday) DECLARED

Hey Day Baby – Uttoxeter 15:40 (Wednesday) DECLARED

Conservative – Worcester 19:20 (Thursday)

Phoenix Of Dreams – Haydock 16:25 (Friday) and Haydock 20:00 (Saturday)

You can log in to read our Raceday LIVE pages which will be available from 10am each day we have a runner to get all the latest news and updates ahead of the race.