Fergal O’Brien insists he is ready to ‘test the water’ with Northern Air who will bid to find the back of the net for former Premier League football manager Harry Redknapp when making her debut under Rules at Market Rasen on Friday.
The promising five-year-old will be pitched into Listed level on her first start in Britain at the Lincolnshire track in the Unibet 3 Uniboosts A Day Alan Swinbank Mares’ Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race which has attracted a field of 11 runners.
Northern Air will attempt to give O’Brien and jockey Paddy Brennan back-to-back wins in the extended two-mile contest after the pair teamed up to good effect 12 months’ ago to take the race with subsequent Grade Two winner Dysart Enos.
In recent seasons O’Brien has enjoyed numerous victories together with former Tottenham Hotspur, Portsmouth, Southampton and West Ham United manager Redknapp, who has been part-owner of the likes of Brief Ambition and Karl Philippe.
And victory in the race for Northern Air would be even more special for Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning rider Brennan, who purchased the daughter of Vendangeur alongside O’Brien for £105,000 at the Goffs UK Coral Gold Cup horses-in-training and point-to-point sale back in December.
O’Brien said: “Northern Air is a lovely mare, and Paddy Brennan helped buy her. We are pitching her in at the deep end first time out, but this race just came at the right time.
“It is a stiff task, but we are ready to go and test the water to find out where we are with her.
“Harry has been involved in a few horses in the yard before with the likes of Karl Philippe and Brief Ambition and we have had a few winners for him.
“Northern Air cost a few quid at the sales, but fingers crossed we have got another nice one for him here.”
Although O’Brien insists it would be unfair to compare Northern Air, who won her sole point-to-point start at Dromahane, Ireland, in November, to her high-profile stablemate Dysart Enos he admits she has taken everything in her stride since joining his team at Ravenswell Farm.
O’Brien said: “You can’t compare the two mares. All I would say is that Dysart Enos had one run before she ran in this, but she had been with us a lot longer.
“I was very happy with her point-to-point win so from that side of things it is very good. She has done everything that we have asked of her at home.
“I’m really looking forward to running her and seeing how we go.”
More from Sporting Life
- Racecards
- Fast results
- Full results and free video replays
- Horse racing news
- Horse racing tips
- Horse racing features
- Download our free iOS and Android app
- Football and other sports tips
- Podcasts and video content
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.