Fine spring weather at Perth this afternoon and the Team had a dream start to the Festival with Scarlet Jet winning in great style to provide a memorable 50th winner for Harry Turcan.  Wonderful stuff as there have been a lot of 2nd’s since the 49th winner!  Elsewhere on the card Maillot Blanc and Beat the Retreat ran no better than OK to finish 6th and 5th respectively, more head scratching required re them both.  Back to Perth tomorrow with six declared runners on ground that looks like being good to soft.

Scarlet Jet is driven clear by Bruce to win well.

First up is Artic Mann in the 2.55; he’s been a very consistent horse over the past two seasons and had a good excuse for his one poor effort last time, goes well round Perth though probably needs the full 3m to be seen at his best these days – Bruce rides and 9 run.

Artic Mann

We then have two runners in the conditional jockey’s chase at 3.25, Everyday Champagne (this will be Bruce’s last ride as a conditional and allowed to claim 3lb) and Travail d’Orfevre (Dom having his first ride over fences and claiming 10lb).  Everyday Champagne was in great form at Perth last spring and has been given a long break in the hope of another good campaign at the track, does need proper good ground to be at his best which it wasn’t today.

Everyday Champagne

Travail d’Orfevre had a couple of really tough runs in the depths of winter which seemed to leave a bit of a mark, we’ve given him a nice break since and hopefully he can bounce back to his usual consistent self though it may be that he needs a summer – ground, track and trip should all be fine for him – 12 run.

Travail d’Orfevre

Dubai Days makes a quick reappearance after his Haydock calamity in the feature chase at 4.33; he was trained to the minute for that race and I’m not certain he’s in quite the same fettle, hopefully he is in which case he would run well in a tight handicap off a low weight, his first visit to his local track – Bruce rides and 7 run.

Dubai Days

Mack the Man runs in the 5.05; he ran well in this race last year and went on to win over course and distance but he’s been out of form recently so we are very much hoping for a revival, creeping down the weights and first time blinkers  – Kit rides and 14 run.

Mack the Man

Finally so long as it hasn’t dried up too much we run Platin Moon in the 5.36; he hasn’t a lot of experience behind him to be tackling such a busy race on handicap debut but he ran an excellent race last time, I am very happy with his mark and he has a handy 8lb 4yo allowance so if he runs he should hopefully be competitive – Bruce rides and 14 run.

Platin Moon