Betting for the 2018 Group 1 $700,000 Altus Traffic Kingsford-Smith Cup (1350m) at Doomben on Saturday has remained steady at Ladbrokes.com.au on race eve.
Le Romain, above, is the favourite for the 2018 Kingsford-Smith Cup at Doomben. Photo by Steve Hart.
Three times Group 1 winner Le Romain keeps his spot at the top of the market order at $3.40 and trainer Kris Lees can’t fault the five year old’s lead up form.
Le Romain had a short freshen up after finishing second to Trapeze Artist in the Group 1 $600,000 Schweppes All Aged Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on April 21 and then ran a bottler of race when third behind English and Impending in the Group 1 $700,000 Kirin Doomben 10,000 (1200m) at Doomben a fortnight ago.
“He couldn’t be racing any better. He’s just got to get that elusive win,” Lees told the Newcastle Herald.
Le Romain will jump from gate four in the Kingsford-Smith Cup field that has been reduced to ten runners following the early withdrawal of the Lindsay Park trained Spieth and Lees said the tough gelding will appreciate good barrier draw after jumping from double digit gates at his last three starts.
“Draws aren’t everything but he was due for a half-decent gate and he’s got a perfect gate probably,” Lees said.
“That will put him right in that first three.
“He did it very tough the other day. He flew the lids and we decided to go forward when there were a couple of riding tactics changes.
“He nearly got the perfect run, but he just got posted a touch and it told in the finish, so hopefully he can do it a little bit easier. And he’s up to a more suitable distance. The 1200 is really not his trip.”
The James Cummings trained Impending also showed that he was back to his best with a flashing second in the Doomben 10,000 and is well in contention on the second line of betting at $4.50 just ahead of the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott trained mare English at $5.
Trainer Bjorn Baker is testing his promising filly Champagne Cuddles at weight for age for the first time and she is well in contention, sharing the $5 mark with the Doomben 10,000 winner.
James McDonald’s mount Care To Think is a slight drifter in the betting from $7 to $8 and will take plenty of benefit from his handy effort when he came from last to finish sixth in the Doomben 10,000.
