Azzies set to strike

Mike and Adam Azzie are carded to saddle nine run­ners at tomorrow’s Turffontein meet­ing on the Inside track and could be the team to follow.

Piere Strydom is back in the irons and rides three of the horses but the Azzies have also engaged Weichong Marwing, Lyle Hewit­son and stable stalwart Karl Zech­ner.

To add some impetus to the meeting there is also a Pick 6 car­ryover of R500,000 with an esti­mated pool of R2.1-million. The Pick 6 kicks off in Race 4 which starts at 2.10pm so make sure you give yourself enough time to ei­ther get to your local TAB on time or if you are using Telebet, to log on to tabonline.co.za or call them.

Isphan has improved in recent races and has performed particu­larly well since teaming up with Hewitson.

He won his last start over 1000m when beating Spring Steel by 2.60 lengths and could score again in Race 5, a MR 93 Handi­cap over 1000m. He has good gate speed which he will need to use to his advantage to overcome a wide No 10 draw but a bigger concern could be the 4kg penalty he got for his last win.

If Isphan is unable to follow up then stablemate Angel’s Power could fill in for him Strydom is aboard the five-year-old gelding who may not have enjoyed either the Polytrack last time or racing under lights at Greyville. He has raced three times at the course for a second place and two fourths but his form is good and he is ex­cellent back-up for Isphan.

The best bet looks to be the Azzies’ runner in Race 8 when Strydom gets aboard Full Mast. This three-year-old contests a MR 72 Handicap over 1800m and has room for improvement.

He has raced twice for a victory over 1400m, beating Battle Front, and then when put over 1600m he tried to lead early but was caught late by Mambo Symphony.

He is bred to go the extra 200m and as Strydom is the master of pace he will ensure there is still something left in the tank over the final 200m.