Pearl proves very congenial for Aitken

Smartly away from the barriers, Pearl Congenial made most of the running to win her first handicap at Ladbrokes Park, Sandown-Hillside today.

Ridden by claiming rider Mitch Aitken, Pearl Congenial hugged the rail from her plum draw in barrier one, and then headed a five-horse finish to the 1,000m (five furlongs) race, winning by the official margin of 0.1 and 0.3 lengths from Invincible Al and Casque. You can view a replay at https://www.racing.com/videos/2016-12-24/pearl-congenial-salutes.

Aitken, wearing the colours of Sheikh Fahad's Pearl Bloodstock, rode the filly for trainer Robert Smerdon, who saddled Pearl Congenial to land a maiden on her previous start at Cranborne last month. The winning jockey is the son of another former rider, Ron Aitken, who retired just over ten years ago having been given his first winner by Smerdon. Mitch, who has now ridden 55 winners, told Skyracing.com: ‚"I broke my hand in a trackwork accident not long after I came down and that put me out for two months. I've only been back for about three weeks.‚"

Smerdon hopes Pearl Congenial can graduate to black-type company, and said: ‚"She's not very big but she's got good ability. She's now a city winner and is stakes-placed so hopefully now we can find a black type win to add to her value.‚"

Qatar Racing's Hursley was also in action in Australia today, at Rosehill Gardens, but he finished at the opposite end of the field to Pearl Congenial. It was his first race back following a spell from trainer Chris Waller's yard, and the trip of 1,500m was on the sharp side for the four-year-old.