Trainer John O’Shea is confident Linebacker is in peak condition ahead of Saturday’s prestigious Doncaster Mile, and believes the colt has done everything right leading into the race.

After drawing gate 14 at Tuesday night’s barrier draw, Linebacker remains the $6 favourite, and O’Shea says his preparation has gone exactly to plan.

“The things we can control we have under control,” O’Shea said.

“He is a very fit, healthy horse. Whether we’re good enough, we’re going to determine that on Saturday.

The preparation has gone exactly how we have wanted. He will have a couple of nice easy days going into the race on Saturday.

The horse is in great form, the rider (Zac Lloyd) is in great form and the stable is very relaxed with his preparation.”

Three-year-olds have a strong recent record in the Doncaster, having won nearly a third of the past 30 editions, including Celestial Legend’s victory last year. O’Shea has followed a similar blueprint with Linebacker, mirroring the approach used by Les Bridge.

Both horses won the Randwick Guineas, and O’Shea has opted for a four-week gap between runs with a barrier trial to keep the colt ticking over.

Reflecting on his third-placed runner Café Millennium in last year’s Guineas, O’Shea believes this year’s version was of a higher standard.

“Last year, we ran third in the Guineas and there was about half a dozen of them all going to the line together so I was thinking maybe the Guineas wasn’t that strong,” he said.

“This year’s Guineas, they ran time, there was a long distance from first to last, they went a good gallop.”

While the Doncaster represents Linebacker’s first clash against open-age rivals, O’Shea is eager to see how he measures up — especially under a light weight of 49kg, compared to topweight Another Wil on 56.5kg.

“It’s a matter of analysing how he lines up against what was a very strong George Ryder Stakes and a very strong All-Star Mile,” he said.

“Those horses are probably weighted up to their best in a Doncaster, so we’re probably going to have to utilise our weight advantage and hopefully get a position in the running that gives us a chance to be in the finish.”

While Linebacker held firm as the race favourite, the market remained steady after the barrier draw. Gringotts and Tom Kitten are close behind at $7 each, after drawing barriers six and one respectively.

Japanese contender Geoglyph, who drew the widest gate in a field of 20 plus four emergencies, drifted slightly to $26 in betting.