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By Ray Hickson

A swing in barrier draw fortunes has given talented colt Alabama State the kind of edge trainer Jack Pilkington feels he needs ahead of his spring finale at Newcastle on Saturday.

Trainer Jack Pilkington (Pic: Bradley Photos).

While the Group 3 $250,000 NZB Spring Stakes (1600m) has been in his plan to end the campaign, Pilkington didn’t bank on the tough run Alabama State endured in his luckless fourth in the Four Pillars at Rosehill two weeks ago.

In that race he jumped from barrier 18, raced four wide without cover and went down by three-quarters of a length. So the inside barrier in the Spring Stakes is a luxury he hopes can be used to advantage.

“He did have a hard run, I thought he looked a touch light after, but this race has been the plan for some time,’’ Pilkington said.

“You just do everything right by him. I did one gallop on the course proper Tuesday morning and that was basically it. You can’t get the horse any fitter.

“We’ve got to trust there’s one more there. I think his pet distance is going to be shorter than a mile but if he’s a touch dour it might help him see out the trip.”

The Hawkesbury trainer has campaigned Alabama State, $4.00 with TAB on Thursday, against older horses all spring in Midway company and Saturday will be his first run in his own age group since his fourth start.

Kerrin McEvoy, who rode the colt in his Midway win two starts back, is back on board and Pilkington said he deserves, and is capable of, a stakes win.

“I hope we are the best horse in it, and he has enough left in the locker for one last start for the preparation,’’ he said.

“He does not know how to run a bad race, that much is pretty obvious, so hopefully he’ll be putting his best foot forward.

“It’s probably stronger than last year’s edition and it’ll be good to see how he measures up but I think we are going to improve past where we are now in the autumn.”

Pilkington said he was proud of Alabama State’s performance in the Four Pillars and that Zac Wadick almost executed the race perfectly from what was an impossible map.

“Every way I mapped it we were going to be four wide and I said to Zac you’re going to have to nick somebody’s spot,’’ he said.

"If you watch the overhead he nailed every move of it but if he had a foot of room behind him and the grey horse (Patrika Mist) he’d have got in, got his cover, and probably won.

“So close but so far, 0.8 lengths was the difference between $227,000 and $22,000.

“It was a massive run and everyone was saying you’ve got the best horse in the race even at this stage of his career. That’s encouraging particularly with the improvement I think is left to come.”

While Pilkington is chasing his first Group win, champion trainer Chris Waller is looking for his third Spring Stakes with Althoff.

Alabama State runs fourth in the Four Pillars

He won the race in 2015 with Devil Hawk and in 2020 with The Elanora, and he feels Althoff is well placed coming back a notch in grade on his fifth in the Group 2 Callander-Presnell three weeks ago.

“His last few runs have been good, he hasn’t had a lot go his way,’’ Waller said.

“The mile is going to suit, he’s got a good draw and a good jockey so there’s a lot to like about him.”

All the fields, form and replays for Saturday’s Newcastle meeting