Track No Issue For Our Boy Malachi In Doomben 10,000

Our Boy Malachi has suffered two of his three defeats at Doomben, but co-trainer Wayne Hawkes believes that the track will not be an issue for the talented sprinter when he contests the 2015 Doomben 10,000 this weekend.

Our Boy Malachi has been included in the 2015 Doomben 10,000 field. Photo by: Steve Hart

Our Boy Malachi has been included in the 2015 Doomben 10,000 field. Photo by: Steve Hart

Our Boy Malachi went into the Group 1 BTC Cup (1200m) as a clear favourite and he led the field into the straight, but he tired in the final stages of the race and could finish no better than third behind Hot Snitzel and Knoydart.

A number of racing experts stated after the BTC Cup that the Doomben track may have been the reason that Our Boy Malachi suffered just his third defeat in the Group 1 event, but Hawkes believes that the track did not play a part in the defeat and is confident that the Top Echelon gelding can return to winning form in the 2015 Doomben 10,000, if he gets a softer run in the early stages of the race.

“He is really good,” Hawkes said.

“He didn’t have the best of luck in the first 400 metres of the race the other day and I’m sure if you swap his barrier and the winners barrier then we would be winning and the winner wouldn’t have won.

“You can’t keep the Black Caviar record intact and any horse now days when they string a few wins together we all get excited.

“His run was great the other day and a few people said that where he got beaten in Queensland the other time was at Doomben, but that wasn’t the real issue, he had to do a bit too much work to get across in the first 400 and in those Group 1 races you need things to go your right way.

“He ran super in a Group 1 and the horse is going fantastically well.

“You can have the best horse in the race and they still don’t win.”

Our Boy Malachi started his autumn campaign with a solid victory in the Group 3 Hall Mark Stakes (1200m) at Royal Randwick on April 18 before he returned to Brisbane for the BTC Cup three weeks later and Hawkes believes that the six-year-old will now be at peak fitness for the Doomben 10,000 on Saturday.

“The plus is that whenever you take a horse away they can always run well their first start and they can win, but I’ve always found it in my experience, especially in Queensland, that they always race better in their second race start than their first start,” Hawkes said.

“By rights, he should be better and spot-on for Saturday.

“It would be nice to cap the season off with another Group 1.”

Our Boy Malachi is currently available at 2015 Doomben 10,000 odds of $7.50 and he is on the second line of betting with Ladbrokes behind Srikandi ($5).

About The Author

Thomas Hackett

Thomas is a passionate and opinionated racing journalist and punter who has been obsessed with horse racing since he backed Saintly to win the 1996 Melbourne Cup. An international racing enthusiast, he has his finger on the pulse of racing news not just from Australia but all around the world.