Sama’s good, no doubt
KINGSTON Town, Lonhro, Winx … Samadoubt!
Even Samadoubt’s jockey Tim Clark finds it hard to put the horse in the same sentence as the three legends of Australian racing but that will have to change after the Group 1 George Main Stakes (1600m) at Randwick tomorrow.
Samadoubt is racing for a rare weight-for-age hat-trick after earlier successes in the Winx (formerly Warwick) Stakes and Chelmsford Stakes this spring.
The last horse to complete the Winx Stakes-Chelmsford Stakes-George Main Stakes was the mighty Winx herself in 2017. Lonhro is the only other horse this century to win the three races with his clean sweep in 2003.
Kingston Town won the Sydney spring weight-for-age treble in 1981, while the only other horse to achieve this feat was Purple Patch in 1976.
The Bjorn Baker-trained Samadoubt has been a revelation this season with his brilliant frontrunning wins in the Winx Stakes and Chelmsford Stakes, while he is also effective on wet tracks.
It’s been a remarkable form surge by the six-year-old gelding this season because his only previous stakes win was a Listed Canberra Cup in March.
“Samadoubt is flying at the moment, he’s really in the zone,’’ Clark said.
“He has been a late developer and I feel having a tough preparation last time has helped him become a weightfor-age horse. It is not an easy progression to make but he is going terrific.’’
Clark said Samadoubt’s natural speed and frontrunning ability made him a good fit for weight-for-age races.
“He makes his own luck plus he’s very tough and durable,’’ he said.