Perratt enjoys Star turn

● Trainer celebrates her first winner of the year at Ayr meet

Linda Perratt trained her first winner of 2018 when Stardrifter won the concluding apprentice handicap at Ayr Racecourse yesterday.

Callum Rodriguez took the mount and left the challenge until well inside the final furlong and just touched off Dandy Man by a head to win at 8-1.

A delighted Linda said afterwards: “It’s great to get a winner. My horses have started to run well and Stardrifter was fourth yesterday. Hopefully we’ve turned the corner.”

Another trainer celebrating was Mike Smith who is in great form at the moment and saddled Four Kingdoms to land longest race of the day, the one mile five furlong handicap. The four-year-old was having only his second run for the yard and eased to the front to win by a length and three quarters from Golden Jeffrey.

Smith said: “The horses are running well and that was my seventh winner of the Flat season.”

The feature race of the day, the £15,000 Bet At racinguk. com Handicap, a Class 3 over the minimum trip, saw the Paul Midgley-trained Line Of Reason speed clear from the furlong pole to win by twoand-a-half lengths from Golden Steps.

St Andrews-based owner Douglas Renton was celebrating when Vallarta carried top weight to win the six furlong handicap for trainer Ruth Carr and jockey Jimmy Sullivan.

The eight-year-old was winning for the third time at the track and could strike again.

At Pontefract today, Shenanigans will not be winning out of turn if she comes good in the Weatherbys General Stud Book Pipalong Stakes.

Roger Varian’s filly was thoroughly impressive in decent handicaps at Goodwood and Newmarket last summer, before rounding off her campaign with a perfectly respectable runner-up finish on the Rowley Mile.

Although she has failed to add to her tally of three career wins after three starts this season, she has actually enhanced her reputation, filling the runner-up spot in Listed events at Kempton and Goodwood and placing third in the Group Three Princess Elizabeth Stakes at Epsom last month.

That latest effort was arguably a career-best and the form looks rock solid, with the winner Wilamina having since run a blinder at Royal Ascot.