The nervous wait to see if Napoleonic would sneak into the Doomben 10,000 is over with the scratching of Abounding paving the way for the colt to take his place in the Group 1 sprint.
Connections have endured an anxious week after the three-year-old was originally named second emergency for the $1.5 million feature, with first reserve Beadman securing a run on Wednesday when Lady Of Camelot was withdrawn due to a sting ray wound.
Napoleonic’s trainer Tom Charlton said he had put a contingency plan in place, but was relieved when the horse was confirmed for a start and they could stick to their original three-race plan of the Doomben 10,000 (1200m), Fred Best Classic (1400m) and Stradbroke Handicap (1400m).
“It’s important because he looks like he’s in a big race with a chance,” Charlton said.
“It has always been the plan, and it’s not normally a race where you get a full field. Normally a (benchmark rating) 103 three-year-old gets in, so it was a bit of a spanner in the works.
“But thankfully, we’re in.”
Napoleonic, who hasn’t raced since turning in a competitive effort against some of the country’s best sprinters in the Canterbury Stakes (1300m) in March, arrived in Brisbane by float on Thursday.
Charlton said he had travelled well after rounding out his preparations with a strong track gallop earlier in the week when partnered by his Doomben 10,000 jockey, James McDonald.
“He worked very well with Linebacker on Tuesday. James came in and rode him, which makes our life easy because he knows where we’re at, and he was very pleased,” Charlton said.
“We can’t fault the preparation thus far.”
Napoleonic shares the second line of Doomben 10,000 betting with Grafterburners at $6.50, behind only $3.50 race favourite Jimmysstar.
