The Roydon Bergerson-trained pair of Town Cryer and Wingman readied for their weekend Group assignments at Trentham with an exhibition gallop at Otaki on Monday, and their handler is heading into Saturday with a spring in his step following their hit-out.

“They worked very well,” Bergerson said. “It was good, strong work and they both hit the line strongly, so I am very happy. They had a good blow afterwards, so they should be right for Saturday now.”

The Awapuni trainer said he was keen to take advantage of Otaki’s grass track in the lead-up to Saturday, with his home track’s turf surface still under renovation.

“We have done it before (exhibition gallop the week of a feature race), so we are trying to stick to a good formula,” Bergerson said.

“We haven’t got a grass (track) at home to work them on and I think that sometimes when you want to give them a good gallop you probably have to be on the grass instead of the poly. They jar up quite a bit if they are on the poly too often.”

Wingman has shown a lot of promise to date, with the three-year-old son of Swiss Ace winning two and placing in one of his three starts to date, and has duly earned his first crack at stakes level in Saturday’s Gr.2 Top Kat Roofing Levin Classic (1400m).

“He has been ticking over nicely at home,” Bergerson said. “He has had a couple of gallops in company and one by himself. He doesn’t take much work, he is a pretty good winded horse. He has come along really nicely, I am very happy with him.

“He is a promising horse going forward, we just hope he can run in the money on Saturday and hopefully secure a slot for the race (NZB Kiwi).”

Bergerson is looking for an improved run from his Group One performer Town Cryer in the Gr.1 Harcourts Thorndon Mile (1600m), with the mare having finished 11th and fifth respectively in the in the Gr.1 Mufhasa Classic (1600m) and Gr.2 Manawatu Challenge Stakes (1400m) in her last two outings at Trentham.

Bergerson said he had weighed the option of heading north to Ellerslie for the Gr.2 Rich Hill Mile (1600m) on New Year’s Day but elected to stay closer to home with his charge.

“1400m is not her go really, so we were trying to get her ready for this Thorndon,” he said. “We didn’t want to go all the way to Auckland and back. We thought about the Rich Hill Mile, but she would have had to carry topweight, so we decided to stay at weight-for-age and then back her up in the Thorndon, which ideally fits.”

Town Cryer is currently at a win quote of $21 with TAB bookmakers for Saturday’s Group One feature, while Wingman is rated a $12 winning hope in the Levin Classic, with that market dominated by Savaglee at $1.80.