Al dishes it up to podgy Hustler - on the track, not in his feed bin!

Trainer Al Barnes will leave the driving tactics up to his driver son Hayden when Northview Hustler goes out for redemption in Saturday night’s A$50,000 Redcliffe Gold Cup.

The Hustler faces an even line-up in the 2613 metre feature and, on a 10 metre handicap, has been dropped by all the local tipsters after he weakened out in the Mr Feelgood Pace at Albion Park.

“No one’s got him in the top four and I reckon we might get 10 to one on Saturday night but that’s OK we like being underdogs,’’ says Barnes who is adamant it was his own error in having the horse too fat that saw him run out of puff after a very tough trip last Saturday night.

“I’ll leave it to Hayden to see what he wants to do. It will depend how the horse steps but he may take the softer option this week and see how he goes from behind.

“Our main goal is the last two races next month so we may as well keep trying different things to find out what he can and can’t do.’’

That said, Barnes believes Northview Hustler is more than capable in the chair and he says Hayden isn’t scared of landing there again.

“On that track you need to be handy, not many win from back in the field, and there are a lot of good sit-sprinters in there on Saturday night.

Northview Hustler had a torrid trip last week, gassed three wide to get outside pacemaker Colt Thirty One.“If Hayden decides to go round them he just has to pick the right time to do it - when they back the speed off rather than like last week when they were already running quickly.’’

Barnes says he has no concerns about the Hustler handling the tight, triangular Redcliffe circuit.

“It’s only the ones who hang bad and get rough that struggle at high speed, but he’s a clean driving horse. He’ll be fine.’’

Barnes is also happier with the horse’s state of fitness this week after stepping up his workload and cutting his feed.

“He was simply too tubby last week. I was feeding him too much and working him too little.

“Over in New Zealand he wasn’t eating much and was a skinny colt getting no benefit out of his feed. But he’s been eating like a giant here. Vasari is a monster and eats only four kilos of feed a day while Hustler was having 6kg and licking his bin clean.

“I’ve cut him back to what I feed the other horses, four kilos, and he’s had a solid week on the track. I galloped him on Wednesday and topped him off today with a jog-canter.

“We’ll follow the old rule - when he stops eating, we’ll stop working him.’’

Barnes says Northview Hustler, a c9 M4 rater, was a little unlucky not to draw on the front row at Redcliffe, like Ohoka Punter, who is rated c17 M5.

“But I suppose he deserves a handicap after winning the Flashing Red. It’s an even lot. Mo Casino is a chance if he stepped from one and led and it looks a good race for Saloon Passage who is tough.

“But Hustler is up to winning. He’s not going in short this time.’’

Vasari has had some hard racing in the last month, including this 1:52 mile rate win at Albion Park.Barnes will take a rare spin round the track himself on Vasari who races earlier in the night over 2040 metres.

“That’s a handicap for him in itself,’’ jokes Barnes who intends following them round rather than unleashing the free-goer.

“He’s had four hard runs in a row and just found it too hard last time sitting in the chair with the sectionals they were running.

“He likes getting his own way in front but we can’t get there from the second row on Saturday night and we can’t kill him every week.

“I’ll be patient and drive him as a sit-sprint horse. He’s up to them, he just needs a bit of luck.’’

Vasari races at 7.43pm NZ time at Redcliffe on Saturday night.Northview Hustler races at 9.09pm NZ time at Redcliffe on Saturday night.