Sydney’s leading trainer Chris Waller will saddle up six runners in the 2018 Group 1 $650,000 Hardy Brothers Doomben Cup (2000m) at Doomben on Saturday.

Comin' Through, above, is one of six Chris Waller trained runners in the 2018 Doomben Cup at Doomben. Photo by Steve Hart.

Comin’ Through, above, is one of six Chris Waller trained runners in the 2018 Doomben Cup at Doomben. Photo by Steve Hart.

Waller has almost half the thirteen horse field with his runners drawing barriers from the inside to the outside with Glyn Schofield’s mount Satono Rasen drawing the best barrier at four while Comin’ Through and Michael Walker will jump from the outside gate.

Egg Tart, with Leith Innes in the saddle, came up with barrier six, Tom Melbourne and Corey Brown at nine, One Foot In Heaven and Michael Cahill at ten and Life Less Ordinary and Opie Bosson at Twelve.

Five of Waller’s runners will clash with each other again after running in the Group 2 $358,000 Attwood Marshall A.D. Hollindale Stakes (1800m) at the Gold Coast on May 5 with runner up Tom Melbourne finishing ahead of his stablemates Satono Rasen (4th), Egg Tart (5th), Comin’ Through (6th), and One Foot In Heaven (11th) while Life Less Ordinary heads back to the city at Group 1 level after winning the Listed $160,000 Bendigo Bank 2018 Wagga Wagga Gold Cup (2000m) at Wagga on May 4.

Japanese import Ambitious is primed for a Group 1 break thrrough on Australian soil and a win in the Doomben Cup will give trainer Anthony Freedman plenty of ammunitions to head to the Group 1 $3m Ladbrokes Cox Plate (2040m) at The Valley during the 2018 Spring Carnival.

Ambitious has drawn in the middle of the field at gate seven with Craig Williams on top and the six year old gave Freedman a lot of confidence for Saturday’s assignment with a rousing gallop at Doomben on Tuesday morning.

“We’ve been here for about a month and he’s settled in very well,” Freedman told The Courier-Mail.

“He’s fit and well, and I liked the way he ran (Tuesday). The firmer the track the better for him and we’ll hopefully get that on Saturday.

“We’ve got a good affiliation with that race and we’d like that to continue.”

Mick Price’s Hollindale Stakes winner Oregon’s Day has drawn in close at barrier two with Jim Byrne in the saddle again while the Darren Weir trained Tradesman with John Allen in the saddle has drawn beside her at three.

Local hope Man Of His Word, from the Gold Coast stables of Bruce Hill, has drawn the rails with Brad Steward to ride.

Final field for the 2018 Doomben Cup (2000m)

No Last 10 Horse Trainer Jockey Barrier Weight Hcp Rating
1 19x0335x69 IT’S SOMEWHAT (USA) James Cummings Damian Browne 8 59kg 113
2 1160×31256 COMIN’ THROUGH Chris Waller Michael Walker 13 59kg 108
3 4x45x0x928 AMBITIOUS (JPN) Anthony Freedman Craig Williams 7 59kg 110
4 26230×2582 TOM MELBOURNE (IRE) Chris Waller Corey Brown 9 59kg 104
5 x72x203x60 ONE FOOT IN HEAVEN (IRE) Chris Waller Michael Cahill 10 59kg 107
6 x2266x4553 MAN OF HIS WORD Bruce Hill Brad Stewart 1 59kg 98
7 20x2x38x94 SATONO RASEN (JPN) Chris Waller Glyn Schofield 4 59kg 102
8 53920×9311 LIFE LESS ORDINARY (IRE) Chris Waller Opie Bosson 12 59kg 104
9 32134×2800 VIOLATE Brent Stanley Mark Du Plessis 11 59kg 92
10 x0x374x441 TRADESMAN Darren Weir John Allen 3 59kg 94
11 1x270x4005 EGG TART Chris Waller Leith Innes 6 57kg 105
12 0583×22241 OREGON’S DAY Mick Price Jim Byrne 2 57kg 106
13 x72586x655 ABBEY MARIE Michael Kent Matthew McGillivray 5 57kg 102

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.