The former 310,000gns Juddmonte buy who slipped to a rating of 39 - then won four races on the spin

There is a story behind every horse in training and Nazca, a 310,000gns buy as a yearling who slipped to an official mark of just 39 before recently turning the corner, has quite the tale.

Juddmonte forked out six figures for the son of Oasis Dream at the Tattersalls Book 2 sale in October 2020 but after defeats on both starts for John and Thady Gosden, he was sold to East Kilbride trainer Linda Perratt for 16,000gns in February 2022.

There were no signs of Nazca finding form for new connections that year, finishing in front of two of his 49 rivals in six turf starts and being beaten a combined 166 and a half lengths.

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Perratt and owner Paul Corrigan kept the faith, and after four low-key efforts this year, they decided to drop Nazca to 6f and revert to the all-weather.

A long trip south to Chelmsford came in early August – simply for a classified stakes that Nazca could actually get in – and he scored at 22-1, kicking off a four-race all-weather winning streak with subsequent victories at Wolverhampton and Newcastle.

Perratt said: “He’s always worked really well at home but it had been a bit of a disaster when he’d gone to the races, so I have to admire the owners as they’ve shown plenty of patience with him.

“He was a bit weak last year and we gave him time, which was brave, and then he didn’t like the softish ground when he was back on turf this year.

“He showed plenty of speed over seven furlongs at Ayr in July on ground he didn’t like, which gave us encouragement to try him over shorter and on the all-weather. We sent him to Chelmsford as it was really the one race he could get in and we’ve never looked back.

“To win four on the bounce has been amazing, and he’s not been winning by too far, which is great, so hopefully he has a bit more up his sleeve.”

Linda Perratt (right): has found the key to NazcaCredit: John Grossick Racing

Perratt bought Nazca with the help of Highflyer Bloodstock and told agent Anthony Bromley the good news that the four-year-old had finally won straight after his breakthrough success.

She said: “He’s a lovely, beautiful moving horse and a consistent surface on the all-weather has really helped him find his form. 

“I texted Anthony on the night of his first win, and he said he’s never had a horse rated as low as 39 win before. His horses are normally rated at least 139!”

Nazca is now rated 60 and will likely run in a 6f handicap at Newcastle on November 14, while Perratt has her eyes on the Arc winter all-weather bonuses for her team, including recent multiple winners The Caltonian and Henery Hawk.

Perratt, who has saddled three winners from seven runners in the past fortnight, said: “We’ve had a really good time of it lately, with The Caltonian doing us proud with three runs in quick succession and Henery Hawk winning twice, so it would be great to land one of the bonuses. There is good money on offer and it is worth targeting.”

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