WE have had Aintree, Ayr and Cheltenham and now it is time for the Perth Festival. First staged in 1989, it takes place on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and there is always a fabulous mix of quality racing and socialising in the town afterwards.
The opening day sees the inaugural running of the EBF Stallions Gold Castle National Hunt Novices' Listed Hurdle, the first Listed contest to grace the Scone venue.
'Gold Castle' is derived from the Roman fort located on the north bank of the nearby River Tay and a polished bronze saddle quern (a tool used for grinding barley) has been commissioned as a perpetual trophy.
Incidentally, we hear on the grapevine that another new trophy has been produced for August 19 in another bid to celebrate the city' cultural roots. The card's flagship race, the £25,000 Summer Handicap Hurdle, is being re-named the Stone Of Destiny Handicap Hurdle.
Perth has never staged as many Class 2 events and the feature race at the festival is the £20,000 Highland National over 3m 6f.
Pro-active chief Hazel Peplinski is looking forward to her second year in charge and set a target of a further reduction in non-runners. Last year, the number dropped by 18 per cent and this term she has set a goal of reducing late withdrawals on account of 'unsuitable ground' by half.
This will be helped by the installation of a £25,000 irrigation system. It will enable Perth to produce safe and consistent ground throughout the summer months and give the track team unprecedented control on the challenging job of watering the course.
It was great to see Jimmy Long's Thistle Bloodstock colours finish first and third in last weekend's Queen's Cup at Musselburgh courtesy of Carbon Dating and The Tartan Spartan.
Glasgow-born Long, a fervent Partick Thistle supporter, said last week that he is aiming Carbon Dating at a Group 3 prize at Chantilly at the end of the month. He was equally proud of the fact that both horses were sired by his stallion The Carbon Unit and he was actually disappointed that The Tartan Spartan, who was hampered half-way down the straight, didn't finish second to his stable companion.
Long has a stud in Ireland where his horses are based with trainer Pat Shanahan. He hopes to have around 33 horses in training this year and predicts his best season quality-wise.
Don't forget to check out our Twitter feed (@ScottishRacing) and www.scottishracing.co.uk for all the latest news.
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