Racing: Doncaster dropouts will ease Sunline's burden

By MIKE DILLON

Sydney handicapper Mark Webbey believes Sunline's task in Saturday's $A2.5 million Doncaster Handicap is easier than when he framed the original weights.

Sunline will have to produce the best Doncaster weight-carrying performance by a mare in 64 years to win, but Webbey sees the task as achievable.

He believes the attrition rate since he announced Sunline's 57.5kg has made the champion New Zealand mare's task a bit easier than he had planned.

"There will be no Testa Rossa, Pins, Redoute's Choice or Intergaze and while there is still a good field, Sunline will have it a bit easier that if that quartet had lined up," said Webbey.

"Having said that, I still think this will be the stiffest test of her career.

"If she wins she will be the benchmark by which we measure mares in the future.

"At the moment she is there somewhere on a par with Emancipation, Let's Elope and Leilani, although you could argue she's probably done a little more than any of those three.

"If Sunline wins the Doncaster she will have clearly taken herself to a new level beyond any mare we have seen race in Australia.

"She will be a real champion instead of the everyday champions we seem to have a lot of these days."

Emancipation, the outstanding mare of the early 1980s, carried 54.5 when she won the 1983 Doncaster.

Another mare, Maybe Mahal, carried 57kg to win in 1978 and since then Super Impose had 57kg and 59.5kg in his back-to-back wins in 1990 and 91, Secret Savings carried 57kg in 1997 and Catalan Opening 56.5kg two years ago.

"Maybe Mahal's 57kg was only 1kg above weight-for-age of that time, whereas Sunline has to carry 2kg above the scale," said Webbey.

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Trevor McKee was only half joking on Monday when he said he did not expect anything but the visitors' wide barrier draw in the Doncaster for Sunline.

But McKee was able to rectify that himself and slot his mare into the perfect No 8 barrier.

At the barrier draw on Tuesday night chief steward Ray Murrihy drew the horses' numbers out of a barrel, the connections of each in turn asked to declare their draw.

To his great delight Sunline was the third horse out and McKee decided No 8 was where he wanted the champion mare.

Sunline won last year's Doncaster from barrier 13.

"We talked about it and felt anything from eight to 13 was ideal," said Stephen McKee yesterday.

"The only draws we really didn't want were one, two or three. If you draw the inside there are so many trying to pressure you from the start and they make you overrace.

"From the middle of the field you can slide forward without the pressure from those horses outside."

Joint faviourite Hire will start from alongside at nine.

Pace Invader was also one of the early ones out and trainer Alvin Clark went for barrier 10, which he also sees as ideal.

Less fortunate was Tall Poppy. She was one of the last drawn, at which stage No 21 was the best barrier left.

Trainer Noel Eales has declared he wants Tall Poppy ridden in the first four, which means the class mare will almost certainly be required to work very hard in the early stages to clear the field.