Little means a lot to Michael Blake as 17-time winner brings up his century

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A career that began on Lincoln day in 2010 could be heading towards a close as Pick A Little makes his 100th appearance on Saturday night.

He has not added to his tally of 17 wins, over trips from 5f to a mile, for nearly a year and retirement has been discussed for a ten-year-old who cost just £6,000 as a yearling and has earned more than £60,000 in prize-money.

Pick A Little (right) scores one of his 17 victories, at Brighton in 2016Credit: Alan Crowhurst

"We've already talked about that with the owners and we'll make a decision after tomorrow," said trainer Michael Blake, who paid tribute to a horse he has trained since 2012. "He's not very big, as his name would imply, but he's been a great servant. He's always been very genuine.

Watch Pick A Little's last victory in October 2017

"He has his own ideas at times, he'll never go down to the gallop more than twice – he thinks that's enough for him. But he's got more mellow as the years have gone by and he does more or less what he's asked to do.

"He's very spoilt in the yard, he's a great favourite of my wife's, so he's very well looked after and will be as and when he's retired."

Blake hopes that William Cox's mount, who had a tendon slip off a hock last year, can take advantage of dropping to Class 7 company for the first time at Chelmsford.

"He's been a bit disappointing this summer but I still hope we can get another win out of him yet," Blake added.

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