Linebacker is one of the few horses rated a genuine chance of spoiling Godolphin’s Golden Rose party and co-trainer Tom Charlton cannot find any chinks in his armour ahead of the Group One showdown.
The colt made an eye-catching return when doing his best work late for fourth to Saturday’s rival Traffic Warden in The Run To The Rose (1200m) and holds a decision over race favourite Broadsiding at the distance, relegating him to third in the Baillieu Stakes (1400m) during the autumn.
Broadsiding reversed that result on a heavy track in the Group 1 Champagne Stakes (1600m) with Saturday’s race set to be their third meeting.
“We can’t fault him, he looks fantastic. We think he has improved from that first-up run, which we couldn’t fault either,” Charlton said of Linebacker.
“We’re going into the weekend confident he is going to give a really bold showing.”
The Run To The Rose was the first time Linebacker had raced at a distance below 1300m, but Charlton and training partner John O’Shea felt he had been trialling and working sharply enough to handle it.
That was borne out on race day when he had to go back from an awkward draw but finished powerfully.
While his trainers believe a mile will prove the horse’s pet distance this preparation, they are happy to roll the dice against the ilk of Broadsiding, the $3.30 race favourite, and his Godolphin stablemate Traffic Warden ($4) at Rosehill.
“Our feeling is he is probably going to be better again at a mile around Caulfield, but off that first-up run he looks like he is going to be effective,” Charlton said of Linebacker, who is a $6.50 chance with betting apps in Australia.
“He has won over 1400 at Rosehill, but he is taking on some serious horses and some that probably won’t go to the mile.
“It’s a very strong race and it’s hard to be confident, but we’re confident in the horse’s ability and think he is a topline horse.
“He looked to attack the line well without having a gut-busting run (first-up). It’s what you like to see going into a race like this.”
Kerrin Mcevoy rides Linebacker, who has drawn barrier seven in the field reduced to 1f0 by the scratching of Victorian colt Daggers.