Burke sees Doncaster opportunity as one to take with Liberty Lane

Sheikh Mohammed Obaid appears to hold all the aces in the William Hill Doncaster Mile Stakes on Saturday, with both Liberty Lane and Botanical flying the flag for the Classic-winning owner.

Dry conditions in Newmarket have seen Karl Burke take in this option with the former rather than head straight to his beloved HQ for the Earl of Sefton Stakes, with the Cambridgeshire winner attempting to back up last term’s smart form and kick off the new campaign in a positive light.

Burke said: “I’d have preferred the ground to be softer for him over a mile. He stays a mile and one (furlong) well now, as he proved at the end of last year.

“I was going to go straight to Newmarket with him, but it’s so fast down there at the moment. They’ve had very little rain and the gallops are apparently very firm. If it didn’t rain in the next couple of weeks I’d be a bit sick that we’d not had this opportunity.

“I’m not going to Doncaster confident, just hopeful that he runs a nice race and comes out of it well and the ground turns up suitable for the Earl of Sefton.”

Botanical makes his second appearance for George Boughey, with last year’s John Smith’s Cup runner-up beaten only a short head on his stable bow at Goodwood. The son of Lope De Vega is one of two in the race for the Newmarket handler, alongside Chic Colombine.

“She should have won the Princess Elizabeth on Derby day, she was very unlucky, and William Buick held his hands up afterwards – just one of those unfortunate things,” said Harry Herbert of Chic Colombine’s owners Highclere Thoroughbreds.

“She looks terrific, so if wind surgery has helped then she is certainly too big a price for Saturday. We like her very much, but it’s a comeback.”

Roger Teal has had this race in mind for Dancing Gemini ever since he performed with credit behind last year’s Doncaster winner Charyn in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot.

A Listed course winner at two, a close-up second in the French 2000 Guineas was the pick of his form last season in a year in which he also ran in the Derby and Eclipse before reverting back to a mile.

“We’ve targeted this race for a while and thought it would be a good place to start with him,” said Teal.

“It will answer a lot of questions as to whether we stick at a mile or go up in trip with him and we’ll be a bit wiser after it. It’s a competitive field, but he definitely warrants being there.

He went on: “I think the Derby took quite a lot out of him last year and it’s a race that takes its toll.

“Then in the Eclipse it was just horrible ground. Kieran (Shoemark) said two furlongs out he was cruising, but then he just hit a brick wall on the ground.

“We drew a line through the Eclipse and his run at Goodwood, and then on Champions Day (in the QEII), because he was so keen before at Goodwood Tom (Marquand) took him back and then regretted doing it.

“Tom said after the race that if he knew he would settle so well he would have gone forwards with him, but it was nice to see a strong run from him at Ascot and he’s done well over the winter.”

Richard Hannon’s Witch Hunter blew away the cobwebs at Wolverhampton recently, while Point Lynas’ participation could depend on drying conditions with Ed Bethell’s six-year-old arriving on the back of a runner-up effort in Qatar.

“He’ll run as long as the ground dries out as much as the clerk of the course is saying it will,” said Bethell.

“He’s the second highest-rated in the race and he’s a very talented horse on his day.”