Going is good for Perrett to reign at Ascot

Amanda is married to former top jump jockey Mark Perrett, and they make a formidable team, her husband having finely tuned Harwood's big guns of yesteryear like Arc de Triomphe hero Dancing Brave.

Mark has been partnering Indian Lodge on the gallops and the son of Grand Lodge put in a scintillating spin on the uphill training grounds on Monday to show he was spot-on for the weekend's £320,000 highlight.

Amanda said: "The ground is fine for him at the moment, but the more rain the better. The Moulin was a real thrill as Dad won it with Rousillon back in 1985.

"We didn't think we had a leading chance before the race, but Indian Lodge is a very game horse who shines when there is some cut in the ground."

Jimmy Lindley, one of the finest jockeys of past decades, manages Indian Lodge for owners Sir Eric Parker and Seymour Cohn.

He said: "I worked for Guy for 14 years and knew Amanda as a kid. She is certainly a chip off the old block.

"There is no doubt about it, Indian Lodge is a 5-6lb better horse when the ground is riding nearly heavy. He is a bit like that old horse I won the King George on - Aggressor. He would win a handicap with 9st 7lb on top of the ground, but as soon as you put him on soft he was a Classic horse.

"Indian Lodge adores it and comes through it well. Mick Kinane said when he got off him after he had won his Group Two there were only a couple of horses that he should be frightened of in Europe - Sendawar and Giant's Causeway.

"Giant's Causeway looks like he prefers good ground and so it is in the lap of the Gods whether we get more rain, which I hope we do. If we do I would think Kinane would ride Indian Lodge as they wouldn't send over Giant's Causeway."

The opposition at Ascot is formidable, with Giant's Causeway - the 'Iron horse' - bid-ding for his sixth consecutive Group One success. Other big names in the line-up are Godolphin's Best Of The Bests, who has been supplemented for the race at a cost of £25,000.

Godolphin have also entered Baschir, who beat Giant's Causeway in the Irish 2,000 Guineas, and Diktat. Crimplene - Clive Brittain's filly of the season with a trio of Group One victories to her credit - is also a probable candidate for the Ascot Festival's top event, which could live up to its billing of race of the year.

Others, like Sir Michael Stoute's Medicean - third to Giant's Causeway in the St James's Palace Stakes at the Royal Meeting and Glorious Goodwood's Sussex Stakes - would not like the going too soft. That includes John Gosden's Valentino, runner-up in the St James's, and Observatory.

Ascot is forecast to receive half an inch of rain today, so Amanda's rain dance seems to be working.

She started off supervising the Coombelands jumpers for her father in 1987 and prepared more than 100 winners under National Hunt rules and point-to-points.

Among the 'jumpers' she sent out to victory were Vagador in the Supreme Novices Hurdle and Amancio, who landed the Imperial Cup.

Now, sitting in the trainer's chair at the training centre, she hardly looks strong enough to restrain a pony, but she can handle a headstrong 17-hander with just the flexing of her wrists.

Amanda, however, insists that the training business is a 50-50 thing with husband Mark.

She admitted: "He is very talented and there is nobody better at assessing a horse. When Mark says a horse is spot-on, it is time to get your money down, because he is very seldom wrong.

"Our aim is to achieve the best with every horse, be it a handicapper or a Group One performer.

"If we can look back and say we have helped a horse reach their true potential, I don't think we can ask for any more than that."