Perfect Neighbour, last year’s winner of the Lady Geeta Trophy, makes his second appearance of the season in the Graded Stakes event that headlines the 10-race card at Caymanas Park today, no doubt for a repeat success.

A race for three-year-olds and upward going 1,200 metres, the Lady Geeta is the penultimate call on the card and is scheduled to go to post at approximately 4:25 pm, with first post at 12:10 pm.

The seven rivals that Perfect Neighbour will face in the Lady Geeta are some of the finest sprinters in training, and they include Uppa Tune, Potcheen, Pete’swildone, stablemates Double The Honey and Fortuneonehundred, along with Crucial Appeal and Phineas.

With the wealth of speed present in the dynamic field and an increase in weight by 6.0kg over last year’s, the task looks a huge challenge for Perfect Neighbour. But this five-year-old son of Natural Selection is no slouch, being a very versatile sort. The possibility of success, therefore, cannot be put past him.

He had a pipe-opener three weeks ago over a more suitable distance for his style of running and after giving away some lengths to his rivals by being slowly away at the start, he recovered sufficiently to finish a fair fourth. This is a luxury he cannot afford today.

However, since then he has been reprogrammed by trainer Wayne DaCosta to meet today’s challenge and he looks sharp in his build-up to entertain an air of expectancy. Another significant move is that Shamaree Muir was replaced by the leading stable rider Robert Halledeen, who is expected to provide Perfect Neighbour with greater assistance from the saddle.

The presence of Uppa Tune is instructive. With champion jockey Dane Nelson remaining in the saddle to partner Uppa Tune, trainer Harry Parsard could be looking for a quick double from his American-bred six-year-old bay horse.

Parsard, like DaCosta, has a three-prong attack in the event and any one of the stable’s runners, including Pete’swildone and Potcheen, is capable of winning.

In last year’s renewal Perfect Neighbour had Potcheen behind in third spot, but the imported six-year-old progressed to be the reigning champion sprinter.

The below-par run behind stablemate Uppa Tune in the Chairman’s Trophy could be quickly forgotten as even at the head of the handicaps Potcheen, with the four-time champion jockey Omar Walker aboard, could get there in time.

Fortuneonehundred has shown marked improvement as a five-year-old imported gelding by winning his last two races: one over today’s distance of 1,200 metres in a sparkling 1:12.1 minutes, and now even rubbing shoulders with the big boys in sprinting will not go down without proving that he is now at a stage to be considered a worthy entrant at this level and stands a good chance of upsetting his more fancied rivals with a mere 51.0kg and Muir in the saddle.

Another who could keep this speedy bunch honest is the much-improved Crucial Trial. He won in a remarkable time of 1:04.1 minutes going 1,100 metres, and has a smart time of 1:12.1 minutes for today’s distance.

Even now facing some of the top sprinters in the land he shouldn’t be totally overlooked with Paul Francis returning to the saddle.

Ones To Watch

Race 1 Smokey Topaz (Paul Francis)

Race 2 Stamp Of Authority (Shane Ellis)

Race 3 Big Man Thing (Dane Nelson)

Race 4 Sir Bigs (Orlando Foster)

Race 5 Bars Of Gold (Shane Ellis)

Race 6 Sir Leyland Hall (Paul Francis)

Race 7 Meru (Dane Nelson)

Race 8 Glorious Cause (Richard Lunan)

Race 9 Perfect Neighbour (Robert Halledeen)

Race 10 Awesome Cat (Richard Lunan)