Group 1 winner Linebacker puts spring in trainers’ steps

After a stellar first full season together, trainers John O’Shea and Tom Charlton will step up their spring preparations with a number of high-profile runners set to trial at Randwick on Tuesday.

The pair enjoyed Group 1 victories with Linebacker in the Randwick Guineas (1600m), Schwarz in the William Reid Stakes, and Maison Louis in the Queensland Derby (2400m).

They ended the season seventh on the Sydney premiership ladder with 37 metro wins, something Charlton attributed to consistent results across the year.

“All the horses raced consistently throughout each period of the season. There wasn’t a lull period for us and they raced well through the carnivals,” Charlton said.

“We had three Group One winners over a range of distances. A sprint, a mile and also a Derby where we ran one-two. They were also all in different states so that’s a credit to the staff and the processes of what goes into preparing those sort of horses for those races.

“We’ve had lots of winners and our strikerate has been solid. We can only hope to keep building the quality.”

Among Tuesday’s triallers will be Linebacker, making his first public appearance of the new season in a 900m heat.

“He is probably the flag bearer,” Charlton said.

“If you were to pick the classiest horse, he had an excellent latter stage of his autumn preparation. His run in the Doncaster was without luck but still huge in the circumstances.”

Snow In May and More Territories will also step out, alongside Roselyn’s Star, who missed Saturday’s Rosehill meeting due to the heavy track.

Several emerging three-year-olds, such as Scoop The Pool, O’Sheamus, One Step Closer, Napoleonic and Burn The Sky, are among those expected to feature across the trials.

Charlton added that import Quietness, second in the Grafton Cup, has been given a short break but will return to work with the Metropolitan in mind.

Fans wanting to follow O’Shea and Charlton’s spring hopefuls can find the latest odds at leading Australian betting sites.