Winter goals in the mix for Tokamak

Thursday 4 April 2013, 3:15pm

Winter carnival plans for Tokamak hinge on whether he can extend his winning sequence at Doomben on Saturday.

Tokamak is a clear-cut favourite to make it four wins in a row in the Brisbane Screenprinting Handicap (1350m) despite not having raced since his impressive win in the Members Cup (1600m) at Eagle Farm on March 6.

Trainer Barry Lockwood wants to assess Tokamak's performance at Doomben before outlining what winter carnival plans, if any, he has for the five-year-old.

"If he's going to aim up to be a better quality horse then there are plenty of races on during the winter for him," Lockwood said.

"If not he can go back out again and come back in when the races are a bit weaker."

Lockwood believes the gelding faces a difficult task dropping back to 1350m on Saturday with a month between runs.

"I expect he'll be hitting the line strong but the race would have to be run super fast for him to get home over the top of them," he said.

"He's had the month off since his last run and this race will probably be a bit short for his liking."

Tokamak won his first four starts, graduating from an Inverell Maiden to a midweek Warwick Farm win in July 2011 before losing his way, according to Lockwood.

"He was just running on fear when he was winning those races then in his next prep he went up in grade and couldn't handle it," he said.

"This time in he's started to put it all together again. He just needed time to learn what it was all about."

Lockwood said dealing with Tokamak's headstrong nature has been helped by jockey Paul Hammersley who has ridden the gelding at his past three wins.

"He can be a hard horse to handle in races but Paul understands him well and they make a good combination," he said.

Lockwood moved from Tamworth to Eagle Farm late last year after spending many years in Sydney where he trained successfully and worked as a foreman for Paul Sutherland and Brian Smith.

– AAP

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