Linebacker nearing return

[Wandering Eyes]

Group One placed colt Linebacker(NZ) (Super Seth) will be back in action soon with the John O’Shea and Tom Charlton-trained three-year-old set to be aimed at a series of elite level races this spring.

The son of Super Seth won two of his three starts as a juvenile with a four-length debut victory at Hawkesbury followed by victory in the Gr.3 Baillieu (1400m). Linebacker then finished a hard-fought second behind star colt Broadsiding in the Gr.1 Champagne Stakes (1600m).

“He will trial next Friday,” Charlton told RSN. “He’ll have two trials, and will likely be running in the Ming Dynasty (Gr.3, 1400m) before the Golden Rose (Gr.1, 1400m) and then probably a race we always thought would suit him very well was the Caulfield Guineas (Gr.1, 1600m).

“Beyond that, if everything is going to plan, we’ve got races like the Cox Plate (Gr.1, 2040m), or maybe a Spring Champion Stakes (Gr.1, 2000m) back here in Sydney. But I guess his performances will dictate which way he goes through that latter stage of the campaign.”

O’Shea and Charlton identified the smart colt when on their annual stud tour to New Zealand in December 2022, inspecting yearlings ahead of the Karaka Sales six weeks later.

The Haunui Farm sold colt sports the colours of leading owners Frank and Christine Cook, and the ownership features several loyal stable clients. He was purchased by O’Shea Racing and Suman Hedge for $160,000 at New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sale.

“It’s a great trip and you get to see the yearlings at their homes; it makes a big difference,” Frank Cook told the Sydney Morning Herald. “This colt walked out and was like a supermodel.

“He just stood out, and as the tour went on we saw more of the Super Seths and it was clear they would make it.

“He had a pedigree to match his looks back in the second and third dams, and we thought he would make a miler.”

Bred by Jonathan Munz’ GSA Bloodstock, Linebacker is out of the English-bred Oasis Dream mare Garden Of Swans, who is a half-sister to the Gr.1 Eclipse Stakes (2000m) winner and sire Mukhadram.

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