By Craig Kerry
Three-year-old Linebacker remained steady as a $6 favourite for the Doncaster Mile after drawing 14 for Saturday’s $4 million race on day one of the Championships at Randwick.
Carrying just 49 kilograms and with Zac Lloyd to ride, Linebacker will likely jump from gate 11 with all scratchings out.
Randwick Guineas winner Linebacker was a $6 favourite for the Doncaster Mile after Tuesday evening’s barrier draw.Credit: Getty Images
Tom Charlton was pleased with the draw and the work of Linebacker since his March 8 Randwick Guineas victory, which also gave the co-trainer his first group 1 win.
“He was pretty ready to go in the Randwick Guineas and we’ve just looked to maintain that,” Charlton said.
“He’s had a tick-over trial and a decent piece of work in between and we’ve been really pleased with him. Happy with the draw today, it gives us plenty of options.
“Without looking at the field and where we are on the map, we obviously want to be using his attributes, which we saw in the Guineas. I think he can hold a forward position with speed coming around him, which will give him options to get mobile when needed.”
Among the main threats are the Ciaron Maher-trained Gringotts and Another Wil, who had contrasting fortunes with gates six and 18 respectively. Another Wil was steady at $8 and Gringotts was $9.
Godolphin’s Tom Kitten was $7 after drawing gate one. The Hawkes team hoped to get Swiftfalcon ($11) into the race, but he will need two scratchings to run.
Gavin Beddgood-trained Just Folk won the Doncaster Prelude on Tuesday to make the race and was a $26 chance from gate 10.
In the Australian Derby, Yulong Investments paid the $44,000 late entry fee for Pocketing to run on Saturday after the Richard and Will Freedman-trained gelding held on to win the group 2 Tulloch Stakes (2000m) on Tuesday to qualify.
He drew gate 16.
“For Yulong it is a great result,” Will said. “A homebred, they bought the mare for not a lot of money and put her to their resident sire, Grunt. We didn’t think he’d stay further than 1600-metres but now he’s gone to 2000.”
He said the rise to a potential group 1 shot comes two months after “he had cardiac arrhythmia in a Midway and ran last. Everything went off the table then, but that is the way three-year-old staying horses go.”
Charlton and John O’Shea trained King Of Thunder, which was a close third to Pocketing on Tuesday, drew gate one for the Derby.
