Tulloch Lodge head trainer Gai Waterhouse is talking up the chances of English on the eve of the 2018 Group 1 $700,000 Kirin Doomben 10,000 (1200m) at Doomben on Saturday.
English, above in black colours with white cap beating Redzel in the 2017 Challenge Stakes will clash with him again in the 2018 Doomben 10,000 at Doomben. Photo by Steve Hart.
English hasn’t visited the winner’s stall since beating Saturday’s Doomben 10,000 favourite Redzel in the Group 2 $500,000 Challenge Stakes (1000m) at Randwick during the 2017 Sydney Autumn Carnival but she did beat the Peter and Paul Snowden trained sprinter in a recent 1050m barrier trial at Randwick.
The Group 1 winning mare is coming off a last start sixth behind Trapeze Artist and Redzel in the Group 1 $2.5m Darley T J Smith Stakes (1200m) on day one of The Championships at Randwick on April 7 and Waterhouse said that she has arrived in Brisbane in fine fettle.
“Her trials always look good. She’s a class mare and I couldn’t be happier with her,” Waterhouse told The Courier-Mail.
“She has terrific form around her and is in a very happy state of mind.”
“She’s very healthy, touch wood, without any issues. As horses get older, often they are plagued by one thing or another, but she’s very good.”
English has drawn barrier two in the fourteen horse Doomben 10,000 field and new rider Tim Clark will be able to give her a nice cosy run in behind the speed.
Waterhouse, who trains in partnership with Adrian Bott, said that she is happy to have gained the services of Clark who is riding in outstanding form at the moment and is looking for another Group 1 win on successive Saturdays after steering the Anthony Freedman trained Shoals to victory in the Group 1 $1m Robert Sangster Stakes (1200m) at Morphettville last weekend.
“He’s riding like a man possessed,” Waterhouse said.
Redzel, with Kerrin McEvoy in the saddle again, will jump from barrier six and is marked as the $2.30 favourite at Ladbrokes.com.au to win back to back Doomben 10000s after the speedster led all of the way for Jim Byrne last year.
The Ben Smith trained In Her Time is on the second line of betting at $3.60 while English is marked at the healthy double figure odds of $17 on race eve.
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