LINDA PERRATT'S torrid season finally showed signs of taking a turn for the better when Shatin Leader trotted up at Hamilton on Monday.

In a dismal campaign that has only yielded four winners to date, Perratt bids to make up for lost time by despatching the same horse to Catterick this afternoon in an attempt to try and improve her poor strike-rate.

Admittedly Shatin Leader (3.30) beat absolute dross at the Scottish track, however she only has to shoulder a 6lbs penalty for the victory, which could make her a penalty kick against a bunch of totally exposed sprinters for the Ken Kirby 80th Birthday Handicap.

Another individual with an outstanding chance at the weights is Flur Na H Alba (5.00) in the Nidd Classified Stakes.

Despite being a relatively unconsidered 15/2 shot in a field of five, John Quinn's dasher romped to an impressive triumph over five furlongs at Nottingham last week.

And considering every single piece of Flur Na H Alba's previous form suggested that the minimum distance was too short, the six-year-old performed a minor miracle to get his head in front.

Now back over a furlong further, the selection will surely take all the beating even though he could have done with being drawn a shade nearer to the more favourable inside rail.

In the two-mile Esk Handicap it'll be a case of catch-me-if-you-can for Spring Breeze (4.30), who simply loves to bowl along in front.

Twice a previous course and distance scorer, Spring Breeze particularly likes to put his foot down and really go for broke on the downhill stretch of the back straight.

Hopefully it will be at this point that the Michael Dods' trained stayer can set up the sort of lead which puts plenty of daylight between himself and the remainder of his nine rivals.

Another confirmed front-runner, Cup Of Love (5.30), bids to follow up her recent Brighton win by taking the closing mile-and-a-half Foss Handicap.

The race is pretty much bottom-of-the-barrel stuff and Rae Guest's Newmarket raider wouldn't have to progress a great deal in order to maintain her winning sequence.

Perhaps the compelling reason to side with Cup Of Love stems from the fact that she's a member of the fairer sex, a handy reminder of the tried and tested formula which states it pays to stick with fillies once they start to improve at this time of year.

* Top tipster Janus is going for a hat-trick of winners today with Shatin Leader in the 3.30 at Catterick. Monday's nap McEldowney obliged at 9-4 and yesterday's 2-1 shot La Persiana took the honours by a length.

* Parties involved in the stalls handlers' dispute are to meet later this week in a bid to find a solution to the matter.

The row erupted when Arena Leisure introduced their own team of in-house handlers, who were in action for the first time at Wolverhampton on Monday night.

All of the top jockeys except Seb Sanders boycotted the fixture after expressing their concerns over safety issues.

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