Feel better with Hot Toddy at Scottsville

Hot Toddy looked ready to take on the world when making a winning debut in March but her two subsequent runs have not delivered on that promise.

However, she reverts to her winning course and distance in Race 8 at Scottsville today, a Middle Stakes for fillies and mares over 1600m, and could get back in the winning groove.

In her debut she drifted from 4s to 18-1, but there is a racing adage that “horses can’t read” and she proved it correct. Always within striking distance, she moved up to challenge at the 400m marker and easily put the race to bed, winning by 6.50 lengths from Stola. The form of that race is not bad.

Being by Dynasty out of a Dynaformer mare who won from 1600m to 2400m, Hot Toddy was expected to relish the extra distance when sent over 1950m in her next start. However, she plodded late and finished a 2.55-length fifth behind Into The Groove. The same thing happened over 1900m on the Greyville Polytrack last time out. Well there, she compounded late and finished 11^th behind Ideal Winter.

So bringing her back in distance looks a good piece of business by trainer Charles Laird. She is fairly well drawn and will be ridden by Athandiwe Mgudlwa.

Trainer Dennis Drier has three runners in the race, with Osprey looking the stable elect in her fourth career start. However, his third choice in terms of jockey bookings, Russet Roses, might be the right one, if she can capitalise on Diego de Gouveia’s 1.5kg apprentice allowance.

She took three starts to open her account with a 1.75-length success over All Honesty in a 1600m race on the Greyville Polytrack. Then expected to do better over 1950m at Scottsville in April, she started slowly and got hampered before finishing eighth behind Orelia. She has not raced since but will wear blinkers for the first time and should make her presence felt.

Celestial Gold (badly drawn), Art Attack (doing well at the moment), best-weighted Mogostar, Northern Chorus and Osprey are others who come into the picture.