Musselburgh

Okavango Delta in action at Kelso last month

We’re heading to Musselburgh on Thursday with two runners as they kick off their jumps season up in East Lothian.

I’m excited about OKAVANGO DELTA in the 1.35, a two-and-a-half mile novice handicap. He’s in good form at home and he’s in a race where he’s beaten a few of them before at Kelso over two miles. 

The extended trip will suit him better than last time and I think Musselburgh will help, reverting to a flat track. His mark has come back down to 94 so the handicapper has given him a bit of respite after his last couple of runs. 

He’s not always put his best foot forward but he’s someone who has lacked a bit of confidence at times and saves a bit for himself. 

Having that extra four furlongs should help him this week and Craig Nichol knows him better than anyone having ridden him plenty before, so we’re hopeful he’ll give a good account of himself. 

AAZZA (3.20) needs to improve markedly from her last run but she will get the ground she needs, which hasn’t been the case the last few times. 

She suffered a lot from winning by a wide-margin at Doncaster a couple of years ago and has only now got back down to her last winning mark. It has taken a long time for that to happen! 

She really pleases us with her work at home and when we went to Bangor we thought she’d have a chance, but the ground came up really soft. 

We’re putting cheekpieces on her for the first time because I think a bit of headgear will help her focus. If that works the way we hope, I can see her being competitive because she’s definitely got an engine. 

It’s been a difficult spell with the weather lately because we haven’t been able to work the horses on grass for a while, but thankfully we’ll be able to start that now. 

That’s going to really help bring them along and get them ready to race. We’ve got a lot of promising young horses still to come out, so it’s an exciting time.