Doomben 10,000 winner English has drawn the rails again in the 2018 Group 1 $700,000 Altus Traffic Kingsford-Smith Cup (1350m) at Doomben on Saturday.

English,above, has drawn the inside barrier in the 2018 Kingsford-Smith Cup at Doomben. Photo by Steve Hart.

English,above, has drawn the inside barrier in the 2018 Kingsford-Smith Cup at Doomben. Photo by Steve Hart.

English jumped from the inside gate before winning the Group 1 $700,000 Kirin Doomben 10,000 (1200m) at Doomben on May 12 and has drawn barrier one in the final eleven horse Kingsford-Smith Cup field.

The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott trained English will again be ridden by Doomben 10,000 winning jockey Tim Clark and co-trainer Bott has reported that the Encosta De Lago mare has pulled up well after claiming her second Group 1 victory.

“We’re really happy with the way she’s come back after the 10,000 and hopefully she can hold that form through to the next start,” Bott told AAP.

“She worked well. She’s been in work a long time so she wasn’t there to break any records.”

Doomben 10,000 runner up Impending has drawn awkwardly at barrier nine and Damian Browne will be looking to slot the James Cummings trained four year old into a trailing position in the second half of the field as he did last start.

The Kris Lees trained Le Romain maintained his good Group 1 form with a solid third in the Doomben 10,000 and will strip fitter for that effort when he jumps from barrier five with Glyn Schofield in the saddle again.

Smart three year old Champagne Cuddles will be stepping up to Group 1 weight for age class in the Kingsford-Smith Cup for the first time after breaking through for an overdue win in the Group 3 $125,000 Brandons Gold Coast Guineas (1200m) at the Gold Coast on May 5.

Corey Brown will be in the saddle again and will also being looking for some early cover on Champagne Cuddles after drawing out wide at barrier ten.

Comeback jockey James McDonald is facing a tough task after his mount, the Matt Dunn trained Care To Think, drew the outside barrier in the Kingsford-Smith Cup.

Queensland’s best chance of causing a Queensland Winter Racing Carnival upset win lies in the hands of the Tony Gollan trained Most Important who has drawn favourably at barrier three with Jim Byrne in the saddle again.

Final field for the 2018 Kingsford-Smith Cup (1350m)

No Last 10 Horse Trainer Jockey Barrier Weight Hcp Rating
1 3341x23x12 IMPENDING James Cummings Damian Browne 9 59kg 112
2 2x250x7423 LE ROMAIN Kris Lees Glyn Schofield 5 59kg 116
3 211x1112x6 CARE TO THINK Matthew Dunn James McDonald 11 59kg 105
4 x641241x28 MOST IMPORTANT Tony Gollan Jim Byrne 3 59kg 106
5 290x2860x5 SPIETH (NZ) David & B Hayes & T Dabernig 2 59kg 106
6 11x1170x40 MONSIEUR GUSTAVE Darryl Hansen 6 59kg 104
7 5x6001056x LUCKY HUSSLER Darren Weir Damian Lane 7 59kg 112
8 0x360x3149 ENDLESS DRAMA (IRE) Chris Waller Tye Angland 4 59kg 107
9 x4269x5261 ENGLISH Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott Tim Clark 1 57kg 115
10 x160x117x2 VOLPE VELOCE Graham Richardson & Gavin Parker Jake Bayliss 8 57kg 105
11 x1x32222x1 CHAMPAGNE CUDDLES Bjorn Baker Corey Brown 10 55kg 98

About The Author

Mark Mazzaglia

Mark is a passionate journalist with a life-time involvement in the racing industry. He spent many years as an analyst and form expert at the Courier Mail and also has hands-on experience working with some of Queensland’s top trainers.