The performance of Who Shot Thebarman in the Group 2 $300,000 Quayclean Zipping Classic (2400m) at Ladbrokes Park at Sandown on Saturday will decide the racing future of the veteran stayer.
Who Shot Thebarman, above, is one two Chris Waller trained runners in the 2018 Zipping Classic at Sandown. Photo by Ultimate Racing Photos.
Who Shot Thebarman showed during the 2018 Sydney Autumn Carnival that he was still a force to be reckoned with when he scored a narrow but well deserved win in the Group 1 $2m Schweppes Sydney Cup (3200m) at Randwick but the ten year old has failed to run a place from five Spring Carnival outings.
Who Shot Thebarman contested his fourth Group 1 $7.3m Lexus Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington on the first Tuesday in November and registered his worst result when seventeenth to Cross Counter and trainer Chris Waller will give the old warhorse one last chance to see if he will be aimed towards another staying campaign.
“He has come through his run in the Melbourne Cup without any issues and has spent a few days at the beach and seems to be nice and fresh and is moving well,” Waller said.
“He has drawn well and should get a nice run and hopefully we see him get back to his best form to justify continuing on with him.”
“He has been a great horse to the stable and we don’t want to see him going around if he is no longer competitive, so Saturday will be an important race for us.”
James McDonald gets the ride on Who Shot Thebarman who has drawn barrier two in the eight horse Zipping Classic field while his stablemate Libran will jump from gate six with Michael Walker in the saddle.
Libran is coming off an unlucky third in the Group 3 $300,000 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2600m) at Flemington last Saturday and Waller is expecting another solid performance from the eight year old.
“He ran very well in the Queen Elizabeth but he suffered some interference at the 200m mark which cost him finishing a bit closer,” Waller said.
“Fortunately he has taken no harm from that and pulled up well and I expect him to run well tomorrow.”
Libran is the most fancied of the two Waller runners at $7 in the betting at Ladbrokes.com.au for the Zipping Classic while Who Shot Thebarman is one of the outsiders of the small field at $12.
The Liam Howley trained The Taj Mahal is marked as the $4 favourite to win back to back Zipping Classics ahead of Our Libretto at $5 and Dal Harraild at $5.50.
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