Rothfire bombshell

QUEENSLAND’S Group 1 sprint star Rothfire is set to be a shock starter in Saturday’s Group 1 Doomben 10,000.

Rob Heathcote has confirmed his sprint champion will line up in the Group 1 dash should Saturday’s race, as expected, be shifted from Doomben to the quick-drying Eagle Farm track.

While Rothfire wouldn’t run at a waterlogged Doomben, he will start across the road at Eagle Farm on a better surface with jockey James Orman to partner him in the $1m sprint. Flooding rains are on the way in Brisbane, starting with up to 70mm m forecast for Wednes- day, with racing offi- cials to announce the e fate of the Doomben n 10,000 meeting early y this morning.

It appears highly likely the meeting will be shifted to Eagle Farm which, given the profile of the track, would barely be impacted by the coming deluge.

Heathcote’s decision to race Rothfire (pictured) in the 10,000 – should it be staged at

Eagle Farm – is a surprise considering he originally earmarked the Group 1 Kingsford-smith Cup a fortnight later as Rothfire’s next port of call.

It came as a surprise to several betting agencies, which didn’t even have Rothfire in their Doomben 10,000 markets this week.

Rothfire Roth was beaten into fifth when resuming as the $1.90 favourite in the Group 2 Victory Stakes last month but the camp wasn’t disappointed with the run.

“It was a good effort considering he was returning from a fair time off, he jumped from a wide gate and we had to do some work early in the race,” Orman said.

Meanwhile, Goulburn trainer Danny Williams has revealed he has had restless nights trying to work out whether to race wet-tracker warhorse Shelby Sixtysix in the Doomben 10,000.

Williams confirmed Shelby Sixtysix was en route to Brisbane after finishing 12th in the Listed Takeover Target at Gosford last Saturday.

But the intention to come to Brisbane and race in the 10,000 was based on the assumption that it would be run on a heavy track.

The potential shift of the 10,000 to Eagle Farm has left Williams worried.

“We were coming up based on having a wet track at Doomben,” Williams said.

“It has concerned me with what everyone says about how firm Eagle Farm can be.

“I had a restless night last night, I am concerned about it.”

TAB has Rothfire as an $11 chance in its Doomben 10,000 market while Shelby Sixtysix is rated a $26 chance.