Apple Away, trained by Lucinda Russell, is hoping to win the Robertson Homes Fair Maid Of Perth Mares' Chase in Perth to round off her season.
She was a Grade One hurdle winner for her owners, Old Gold Racing, but this term she's turned her hand at chasing, though not quite as successful.
She finished well for a long while at Cheltenham after placing in graded races at Warwick and Ascot, but she was ultimately unable to complete the journey in the National Hunt Chase.
The mare's campaign will consist of both mixed chasing and hurdling next season, but first, she will finish the term at Perth over fences at Listed level.
“After Cheltenham, she got so cocky again so quickly up in Scotland that Lucinda suddenly said it wasn’t right to put her away,” said Ed Seyfried of Old Gold Racing. “There was talk of sending her hurdling and we had entries in both the Liverpool Hurdle and the handicap hurdle on Grand National day, but they were both very competitive and we felt if we were going to reintroduce her to hurdles, we didn’t want to throw her in at the deep end. This race is a very nice way to round off the season, it’s competitive and we’re the second or third favourite – that’s probably about right. She ran her heart out at Cheltenham, she is so brave and genuine, but stepping her up in trip wasn’t the right thing to do that day.”
After narrowly missing the cut for the Grand National, Gavin Cromwell's Malina Girl was sent to this race, where she leads a strong Irish challenge of three in a field of six.
Before her planned National race, the seven-year-old was last seen winning over hurdles at Cheltenham in November.
“Obviously she didn’t get into the National, which was disappointing, but she seems in good nick and she should hopefully run a good race,” Cromwell said. “She was over there and ready to go, which is not ideal, she’d travelled over and back and then travelled to Perth. She seems in good order though, and she takes everything in her stride so she should be fine.”