Friday & Saturday runners

AFTER Worcester on Tuesday and Perth on Thursday, we’re hitting the road again with one runner each at Hamilton on Friday and Bangor-on-Dee on Saturday.

First up is FREEDOM DAY (7.50), who we’ve gone back on the Flat with after a spell over hurdles which didn’t quite work out the way we hoped. He finished only 10th of 12 at Ayr three weeks ago, where he looked a bit rusty switching back to the level and got taken off his feet early on over 7f. He did all of his best work late in the piece, and in another furlong probably would’ve finished in the first four.

The obvious next move is to step him up in trip, which he gets tonight tackling 1m1f at Hamilton. That should suit him much better, as should the uphill finish. He’s the rank outsider of the seven-runner field, but I think he’ll run much better than his odds suggest.

Aazza (right) has been on a real roll and will aim to bring up the hat-trick at Bangor on Saturday

Then it’s on to Bangor on Saturday, where AAZZA (5.10) will aim to complete a hat-trick following wins at Wetherby in March and then Southwell last month. She’s gone up 5lb for each of those wins and has top-weight against five rivals, but this is effectively a 0-97 and I think she’ll take a bit of beating with our new stable jockey Ryan Mania taking over in the saddle for the first time.

We’ve given her the best part of five weeks off since Southwell, but she’s very fresh and well at home, so she’s telling us that she is ready to run again. One thing we have to watch for is if she’s coming into season, which she can do quite sporadically. Now we’ve been training her for a few months, we’re much more clued-up about her as an individual and understand when to press the button with her and when to ease off.

Bangor is a long way to go, especially with one runner. But one thing we’re never scared to do is travel south if that’s where we think the best opportunities are. It paid off with OKAVANGO DELTA at Worcester earlier this week…fingers crossed it does with Aazza on Saturday too!