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By Ray Hickson

Trainer Rod Northam doesn’t expect an untimely foot abscess to be any reason why lightly raced filly This One Time couldn’t complete a hat-trick at Tamworth on Monday.

The three-year-old hasn’t raced since she won at Dubbo on May 4, following her maiden win at Tamworth, with Northam saying she had to miss a little bit of work soon after the win.

Trainer Rod Northam

But that was more than a month ago and he said she’s had plenty of time to prepare for the Happy Birthday Amie Simpson Handicap (1000m).

“She had an easy week or two for that foot to heal and she’s back firing again,’’ Northam said.

“She should be fit enough, there’s not problem there, she’s had a month of getting ready for it.

“She’s drawn well, it looks a nice race, Leeshelle (Small) gets on well with her so I expect her to race well.”

With that gap between runs the Scone trainer said keeping This One Time to 1000m is the right move for now but expects she’ll have no issue with a bit more ground going forward.

She was thrown into a couple of deep races as a two-year-old but Northam said the filly taken benefit from having a decent break going into her current campaign and the maturity is showing.

“I’m really happy with her, she’s struck a bit of form,’’ he said.

“She’s always had ability but she wasn’t helping herself running through the bridle and being a bit of a stress head.

“She’s definitely matured a bit this prep and got herself under control, the last two wins have been quite good.”

See You Then returns for her second preparation in the Concrete Industry Supplies Plate (1000m) and Northam said while she hasn’t had an official trial he has a bit to work with.

He revealed she was spelled after her debut second back on January 30 due to shin soreness but she’s shown no signs of that this time around.

“I was rapt with that effort, she was going shin sore going into that run and was quite shin sore after it,’’ he said.

“She’s not a big filly so we gave her plenty of time, she’s had a nice jump out and is ready to go.

“I did look at the form out of the race and it was pretty ordinary, that would be a bit of a concern but her work is sharp enough and I would expect her to be in the finish.”

Rod Northam on Miss You So (race 1): “He’s in a mile third-up, it looks an ideal race for him. He’s drawn well to get a nice soft run so he can run well as well.”

On Great Point (race 5): “She ran very well first-up at Scone over the carnival, she was a bit flat second-up I think because she ran so well first-up without a trial. She’ll bounce off that and race really well.”

On Move She Can (race 6): “I’m hoping up to 1200m will help her. The last two starts she’s come out of the gates and been back last. She might be a bit timid on jumping but the 1200m is better than the 1000m for her.”

All the fields, form and replays for Monday's Tamworth meeting