For the second straight year, Linebacker’s spring campaign has fallen short of expectations, but trainers John O’Shea and Tom Charlton remain optimistic the talented gelding will bounce back stronger in the autumn.

The Randwick Guineas winner had been aimed at the Epsom Handicap – Golden Eagle double, but a minor setback sidelined him from the former.

Although he claimed the Silver Eagle (1300m), his disrupted preparation saw him finish seventh in the Golden Eagle behind Autumn Glow.

“It ended up being a testing 1500 and the preparation we were dealt as a result of the setback didn’t set him up well for that,” Charlton said.

The gelding had endured a disappointing spring last year before rebounding to win the Randwick Guineas and run a luckless eighth in the Doncaster Mile (1600m).

“He will go for a break now and come back in the autumn. I’m confident he can be a pretty good horse for us,” Charlton said, with races like the Canterbury Stakes, George Ryder Stakes and Doncaster Mile among his likely targets.