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By Adrian Sciglitano

When Linebacker ($4.20 on TAB) walks into the mounting yard on Saturday at Royal Randwick all eyes will be on him.

The John O’Shea & Tom Charlton-trained galloper created quite the stir last preparation when displaying coltish behaviour pre-race and will return as a gelding on Saturday when he contests the Group 3-Asahi Super Dry Eskimo Prince Stakes (1200m).

Co-trainer Tom Charlton is hoping that we will see a better version of the talented three-year-old on Saturday following the gelding operation and is happy with him going into the race.

Linebacker (Tommy Berry; yellow cap) gets up to score at Rosehill Gardens. Image by Bradley Photographers

“It’s hard to say, sometimes when you geld horses it doesn’t always transform as simply,” Charlton said.

“We’re happy with his trials and everything seems to be going really well at home, and we are confident he has come back well as a gelding.”

Linebacker returned last preparation with an eye-catching run in the Run To The Rose over 1200m, the same distance he resumes at on Saturday.

Punters Intelligence revealed he was able to reel off a final 600m section of 32.94 running fourth behind Traffic Warden in that race and a repeat of that performance on Saturday would see him prove hard to hold out.

Linebacker will be aimed at the traditional Randwick Guineas path [Eskimo Prince Stakes into the Hobartville Stakes, then into the Randwick Guineas] this preparation, with the expectation he will be effective at 1600m having been tested over that trip as a two-year-old.

“He’s a horse who showed he wanted to get over a trip last preparation and probably still is, but he sprinted very well last preparation and ran some really good sectionals.

“He’s obviously going to improve once he gets to 1400m and a mile, but this looks like a nice race and we can pick and choose some nice races for him in the autumn.”

The stable will also saddle up Snow in May ($6.50), the lone filly in the Eskimo Prince, who will look to put her name up in the lights before heading to the Surround Stakes [1400m] second-up.

“Exactly that [Surround Stakes path], she is a very athletic and has returned well this preparation,” Charlton said.

“We feel that three weeks heading into the Surround is going to suit her and she did run well when we followed that pattern and ran her in the Tea Rose Stakes so that’s our thinking.

“She gets in well at the weights against the boys and she is ready to run a sharp sort of race, she is going well, her trials have been sharp and we see her running well this week.”

Artistic Venture ($26) will fly the flag for the stable in the $2m Inglis Nursery and Charlton is hopeful the experience will help the filly improve.

“She is a filly that we think will still progress and mature with time,” he said. “We were happy with what she did in the Inglis Nursery on debut.

“She has that experience under her belt now and she had a nice trial last week which was more than acceptable and she gets her chance to figure in the race for sure.”

View final fields with full form & race replays for Royal Randwick here