Linebacker delights Charlton in group 1 as Godolphin rule Golden Slipper heats

By Craig Kerry

March 8, 2025 — 6.14pm

Co-trainer Tom Charlton celebrated his first group 1 win with a horse he stuck around “in the cold” to buy as Linebacker upset odds-on favourite Broadsiding in the Randwick Guineas (1600m) on Saturday.

Linebacker ($8 Sportsbet), sixth behind winner Broadsiding in the Hobartville Stakes two weeks ago, raced just off leader Tenbury Wells before taking over at the 300m for jockey Zac Lloyd.

Zac Lloyd riding Linebacker to victory over Broadsiding in the Randwick Guineas on Saturday.Credit: Getty Images

Broadsiding and Swiftfalcon threatened to swoop, but Linebacker kicked for a half-length victory over the favourite.

“I don’t know what to say, it’s just unbelievable,” said Charlton, who joined John O’Shea in a training partnership last July.

“I’m just so thankful to my boss and all the clients. It just feels surreal, amazing.

“We were frustrated in the spring. We thought he could be a group 1-winning colt, but it didn’t go to plan, and we were convinced he was better than what he was showing his first two runs back [as a gelding].

Tom Charlton celebrates with Zac Lloyd after Linebacker’s win.Credit: Getty Images

“I watched it with my wife, and I was happy, and she kept quizzing me on it a bit. I said it’s a bit of a change, we are going at a good tempo and he looked comfortable. And I thought he paraded really well, and it all worked out.”

O’Shea was thrilled for Charlton, who also part-owns Linebacker.

“It’s great because he’s a great young lad, and he’s brought so much to our organisation,” he said.

“He actually stayed to buy this horse as a yearling. We all went home and he stayed at Karaka in the cold to buy him, so it’s very special for him.”

Royal hope for Doncaster

Co-trainer Adrian Bott wasn’t surprised when Doncaster Mile hope Royal Patronage fired first-up to win the group 1 Canterbury Stakes over 1300m on Saturday as a $21 chance.

In a stacked weight-for-age sprint, Tim Clark placed Royal Patronage just behind leader Here To Shock before the Wootton Bassett six-year-old entire, in his second Australian campaign, took over inside the last 50m for a neck win.

It was Royal Patronage’s second victory for Bott and Gai Waterhouse after he won on debut in Australia in the Tramway Stakes (1400m) in September.

“You go in always hopeful and the pressure is off a bit to an extent, but they are always very satisfying to win,” Bott said of the upset win.

Blue army on Slipper march

The Blue Diamond form - and the royal blue of Godolphin - ruled a crucial day of Golden Slipper qualifiers as Tempted and Tentyris booked their spots in the $5 million grand final for two-year-olds at Rosehill in two weeks.

Godolphin-owned and trained Tempted bounced back from a luckless seventh in the Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield to come from near last for James McDonald to beat Marhoona by a long neck in the group 2 Reisling Stakes for the fillies.

Tentyris, trained by Anthony and Sam Freedman and owned by Godolphin, then swept down the outside under Nash Rawiller in a briskly run Todman Stakes for the colts and geldings to topple Slipper favourite Wodeton by three-quarters of a length.

Tentyris on the road to victory at Randwick yesterday.Credit: Getty Images

Tentyris, a close second in the Blue Diamond, deposed Wodeton atop the market for the Slipper at $5. Wodeton, on the fringes of qualifying with prizemoney for the 16-strong field, slid to $6. Tempted was next at $9.

The wins came a day after speculation circulated of a Yulong buyout of Godolphin’s Australian operation.

Freedman, who trains in partnership with his son, Sam, hoped Tentyris could back it up on March 22.

“I’ve said all along that there’s no standout, and … hopefully he’s it,” Freedman said of the Slipper crop.

“To do what he did and not be a Sydney two-year-old, it’s not easy to do. To come from nearly last and pick up what is meant to be the best. If he has a good couple of weeks, he’s going to be right there.”

Godolphin trainer James Cummings said Tempted would take confidence out of her win.

“I like that she’s come out of the Blue Diamond and she’s not taken a backward step from there,” he said.

McDonald, who rode Tempted’s dam, Calliope, to victories in the Gimcrack and Magic Night Stakes, said: “She’s a proper chance in two weeks. She’s very similar to her mum. Her mum was a real rocket.”

Commemorative gave Godolphin a stakes treble when it won the group 3 Wenona Girl Quality.

Freedman looks to Arrowfield

Randwick trainer Michael Freedman was eyeing bigger targets with Enriched after the three-year-old colt scored a first black-type win, surging down the inside under Tommy Berry in the listed Fireball Stakes (1100m).

The son of I Am Invincible and Miss Atom Bomb, a $450,000 yearling, was resuming after jarring up and tailing off in the Coolmore Stud Stakes in November. He finished three-quarters of a length ahead of Flying For Fun on Saturday for his second win in seven starts.

“He’s a very well-bred colt, a son I Am Invincible and related to Winx, so he’s certainly got the pedigree there,” Freedman said.

“Maybe a Darby Munro [Stakes] in a couple of weeks, then I think the Arrowfield [Sprint] is his realistic goal.”

It was Berry’s first Saturday winner since returning from a neck fracture and shoulder injury from a January 25 fall at Randwick.

Baker mare a worthy winner

Bjorn Baker indicated that Little Baia would be at the Magic Millions Broodmare Sale in late May after increasing her value with a group 3 win in the Aspiration Quality (1600m) on Saturday.

Rachel King, riding at her first Saturday meeting since finishing a two-month stint in Japan, led on the five-year-old mare, which was strong late to win by a half-length ahead of Mare Of Mt Buller. It was a first stakes win for the All Too Hard mare, which was coming off two all-the-way Canterbury victories.