Veteran Tapis Libre set to compete for fifth Ladies' Derby crown

Tapis Libre could bid to land a remarkable fifth Ladies' Derby as an 11-year-old at Epsom next July.

The tough performer notched his fourth triumph in the race for trainer Jacqueline Coward on Thursday night when produced with precision timing by Joanna Mason to score by a length.

It was Mason's ninth success on Tapis Libre and the pair have become a standard feature of Epsom's first evening meeting of the summer.

Relive Tapis Libre's Epsom victory here

“He’s a legend,” said Mason. “Epsom is a specialists' course and he just handles it so well. He’s a big galloper and I knew they'd gone hard in front. Once they began to stop he just kept going.”

“If he’s in good form I’m sure the target will be to try to win the race for a fifth time and if he managed to do so then surely they'd name a race after him.”

It’s been a great week for Mason as Tapis Libre was her third consecutive winner following a Wolverhampton double on Monday for grandfather Mick Easterby aboard Maldonado and Aphaea.

Joanna Mason has partnered Tapis Libre 21 timesCredit: Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

She added: “I’ve ridden doubles in pointing and Arab racing but not under rules. It’s been a brilliant week.”

Mason also had good news about sister Laura, who was fighting for her life in hospital last October after a misdiagnosis.

Tapis Libre runs in the colours of the Laura Mason Syndicate, set up while she was in hospital to give her something to look forward to.

“Laura's doing amazingly well and trying to get back to normality,” said Mason. "There are four horses owned by the syndicate and Tapis Libre was their first winner. As you can imagine, there were a lot of excited people after he crossed the line.”

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