Doc picture of health
TRAINER Tony McEvoy is amazed at the set punters have taken against Hey Doc in the $1 million Winterbottom Stakes at Ascot today after the gelding’s confronting barrier draw.
Rated a $7 chance before landing in gate 14 – one from the outside – the dual Group 1 winner drifted to $18 with Ladbrokes before firming to $14. McEvoy is mystified. “It’s ridiculous,” he said. “Since the barrier draw when he was $7 or $8, now he’s drifted out to $26 or something like that.
“It’s incredible.
“I had to just go and check that the horse was OK and that he hadn’t lost a leg.
“The horse is very well, lovely and bright, and I couldn’t be happier.”
Sidelined for more than a year because of injury, Hey Doc returned with a brave third to Teleplay in the Group 3 Kevin Heffernan Stakes (1300m) at Sandown on November 16.
McEvoy expects the sixyear-old Australian Guineas and Manikato Stakes winner to improve sharply, albeit against smart opposition in a top-quality edition of the 1200m Winterbottom today.
“He’s showing a rib and he wasn’t doing that at Sandown,” McEvoy said.
“He’s looking a lot better, very forward. The Heffernan has tightened him and he’s been stimulated by coming over here toPerth.
“He’s loving it, he’s very happy.”
McEvoy is confident jockey Luke Currie can offset the problematic draw in the Group 1 race.
“There’s a 600m run before you have to turn. Luke Currie is a good enough jockey to sort that out,” he said.
“I don’t think the barrier is that significant and, in recent years, the winners have drawn in the middle to out.
“I’m not overly fazed after walking the track.”
McEvoy’s nephew Kerrin will ride favourite Trekking for James Cummings and he expects the Godolphin sprinter and several Perth-based runners to present serious obstacles.
“I do respect the locals. Every time they come east, they are very competitive,” McEvoy said of the West Australian contenders.
“It’s probably the strongest edition of the Winterbottom in a few years, but Trekking has got the form.
“He won a Stradbroke, third in an Everest. It’s very hard to go past that.”
The Winterbottom is the second leg of the Masters series at Ascot, splitting last week’s Railway Stakes and next Saturday’s 1800m Kingston Town Classic.