04 March 2026

NZ Racing Desk

04 Mar 2026 — 6 min read

War Machine out for Newmarket redemption

War Machine (NZ) (Harry Angel) will chase a second Group 1 win when he lines up in the Newmarket Handicap at Flemington.

A field of 15 is set to do battle down the famous Flemington straight six in the Newmarket Handicap.

In what was a 'who will be there and who won't' discussion in the days leading up to Wednesday's acceptances, the highly rated three-year-old Tentyris (Street Boss) is among the 15 chasing Group 1 glory and joins an honour roll that dates back to 1874.

Tentyris will be looking to add his name to previous three-year-old modern-day winners that includes Placid Ark (1987), Schillaci (1992), Exceed And Excel (2004), Weekend Hussler (2008), Brazen Beau (2015), Bivouac (2020) and Cylinder (2024).

But with 57kg, Tentyris will need to equal the weight carrying record for a three-year-old set by Ajax back in 1938.

Tentyris has raced up the Flemington straight on four occasions and was breathtaking in his past two victories, taking the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) in the spring and in the Group 1 Lightning Stakes (1000m) at his return on February 14.

Mark Zahra gets back aboard on Saturday after Damian Lane steered him to victory last time and the pair will jump from barrier12.

Looking to stop the winning record of Tentyris down the Flemington straight will be the Lindsay Park team of Ben, Will and J D Hayes.

Lindsay Park is chasing its first Newmarket success since Redkirk Warrior went back-to-back in 2017 and 2018.

A lot has changed at Lindsay Park since then when David and Ben Hayes and Tom Dabernig were at the helm.

The Hayes brothers will be represented by War Machine on Saturday who will jump from barrier 11 with Jamie Mott back in the saddle.

Mott partnered War Machine when successful at his first outing for Lindsay Park at Caulfield in May before the galloper headed to Brisbane to win the BRC Sprint and Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap.

War Machine has not raced since finishing third as a $1.30 favourite in the Group 2 Australia Stakes (1200m) at Pakenham on January 23.

But the sprinter has had two jump-outs since, finishing third behind Wodeton (Wootton Bassett) in his most recent at Flemington last Friday.

Ben Hayes said the team was happy with the progression War Machine had made since being freshened after the Pakenham performance.

"He's spot on and will bounce back," Hayes said.

"We were really happy with his jump-out and I thought he was great through the line.

"He didn't handle the night meeting, and it was a very firm track that night and he jarred up, but he seems right back on track now."

Linebacker kicks off Doncaster prep

Smart four-year-old Linebacker (NZ) (Super Seth) will contest the Gr.1 Canterbury Stakes (1300m) fresh-up on Saturday, in a campaign focused on Doncaster redemption.

The John O’Shea and Tom Charlton-trained gelding was luckless in the Gr.1 Doncaster Mile (1600m) last year when eighth and steps straight into elite-level company on Saturday when resuming.

“He couldn’t be going any better,” O’Shea said. “He is always a bit suspect first-up, particularly at that level. But I have never run him first-up at 1300m since his first start in a race.

“1300m is a good trip for him. He won the Silver Eagle at that track and trip last season and did a great job.

“He obviously has improvement in him with whatever he does on Saturday, but with the strength of his trials and the manner in which he has worked, he will run very well.”

Linebacker is on the fourth line of betting at $9 in a field headed by Cambridge Stud’s star sprinter Joliestar (Zoustar) ($2.50), her Chris Waller stablemate Lady Shenandoah (Snitzel) ($4.60) and high-class galloper Gringotts (NZ) (Per Incanto) ($8).

A son of Super Seth, Linebacker has been allocated 53kgs in the A$4 million Doncaster which is run at Randwick on April 4.

“Linebacker is a Group One winner at set weights and he is getting in six kilos under the scale,” O’Shea said.

“We are very happy with how he is weighted. We are hoping to absolve the sins of last year, when he was frightfully unlucky in the race.” - NZ Racing Desk