Who Shot Thebarman will make his Australian racing debut in the 2014 Sydney Cup and jockey James McDonald believes that the talented stayer will be tough to beat in the Group 1 event at Royal Randwick on Saturday.
James McDonald will partner Who Shot Thebarman in the 2014 Sydney Cup at Royal Randwick on Saturday. Photo by: Daniel Costello
Who Shot Thebarman has remained steady at 2014 Sydney Cup odds of $6.50 and there is plenty of hype around the lightly-raced stayer who recorded impressive wins in the Group 2 Avondale Gold Cup (2400m) at Ellerslie on February 15 and the Group 1 Auckland Cup (3200m) at the same venue on March 5.
McDonald will be riding Who Shot Thebarman for the first time in the Sydney Cup on Saturday, but partnered the Yamanin Vital gelding in trackwork yesterday and told Sky Racing HQ that he was happy with the feel that he received from the five-year-old.
“He is a very raw kind of horse and he just tug along quiet keenly through his gallops,” McDonald said.
“Yesterday he gave me a relaxed feel and he worked over just a bit more of 2000 metres and his work was very strong and he felt very good.
“My only concern is that he settles better than he did in the Auckland Cup and if he does that I think that he will be very hard to beat.
“He has gone up a fair bit of weight and he is going to have to be pretty good, but I think that he is well up for it.
“Obviously it is not the strongest Sydney Cup and he is still in there with a winning chance.”
Who Shot Thebarman has previously had three starts on rain affected tracks, including a dominant four lengths wins in the on a heavy ten track at Trentham in May last year, and McDonald said that he will have no problem handling a potentially heavy track at Royal Randwick this Saturday.
Irish St Leger winner Voleuse De Coeurs and veteran gelding Macedonian are the only other runners in the 2014 Sydney Cup field that have been successful in races over 3200 metres and McDonald believes that could give him an edge in the $1 million event.
“His form line is impeccable really, there are a lot of ones next to his name, and he is obviously a winner and he will be hard to beat,” McDonald
“He is by Yamanin Vital who is renowned for their wet-trackers and that is all he breeds over in New Zealand.
“He is bred to stay and he is bred to handle the wet tracks and he has it all there for him.
“He is a really nice horse who is going to be better in six months’ time when he learns to come back maybe a peg or two.”
Who Shot Thebarman is currently on the second line of 2014 Sydney Cup betting markets at Ladbrokes Australia; with The Offer still a clear favourite after taking out both the both the Group 3 Manion Cup (2400m) and Group 2 Chairman’s Handicap (2600m).
