John O’Shea believes he has done everything possible to have Linebacker ready for Saturday’s Doncaster Mile, with the in-form colt set to test his talents against the best.
Following Tuesday night’s barrier draw, where Linebacker came up with gate 14, the three-year-old has retained his spot at the top of betting at $6. O’Shea is confident his charge has had the perfect lead-up.
“The things we can control we have under control,” O’Shea said.
“He is a very fit, healthy horse. Whether we’re good enough, we’re going to determine that on Saturday.
The preparation has gone exactly how we have wanted. He will have a couple of nice easy days going into the race on Saturday.
The horse is in great form, the rider (Zac Lloyd) is in great form and the stable is very relaxed with his preparation.”
History is on Linebacker’s side, with three-year-olds having captured nearly one-third of the last 30 runnings of the Doncaster. The latest was Celestial Legend in 2023, and O’Shea has closely followed a similar campaign path to trainer Les Bridge.
Both horses won the Randwick Guineas and were given a month between runs, along with a barrier trial, in the lead-up to the Doncaster.
“Last year, we ran third in the Guineas and there was about half a dozen of them all going to the line together so I was thinking maybe the Guineas wasn’t that strong,” he said.
“This year’s Guineas, they ran time, there was a long distance from first to last, they went a good gallop.”
The biggest question now is how Linebacker will match up against older, seasoned horses. He carries just 49kg, a significant advantage compared to topweight Another Wil, who is assigned 56.5kg.
“It’s a matter of analysing how he lines up against what was a very strong George Ryder Stakes and a very strong All-Star Mile,” he said.
“Those horses are probably weighted up to their best in a Doncaster, so we’re probably going to have to utilise our weight advantage and hopefully get a position in the running that gives us a chance to be in the finish.”
The draw had little impact on betting moves, with Gringotts and Tom Kitten both holding firm at $7 after drawing favourable gates six and one respectively. Meanwhile, Japanese raider Geoglyph eased to $26 after coming up with the outside alley in the capacity field.
