After drawing a slot in the inaugural $1.3 million sprint last Friday, publican David Barnhill got the result he was after on Monday after four days of negotiations.

Care To Think is trained at Murwillumbah by Matthew Dunn and is placed at group three level. The five-year-old’s biggest win came in the Magic Millions Cup (1400m) at Gold Coast in January this year.

Barnhill said he is delighted to secure the race favourite for the SPC.

“Everyone’s pumped,” Barnhill said.

“I spoke to a lot of people, form analysts, formed a sub committee and people steered me in this direction.

“We spoke about getting a horse that Tye Angland would ride, being a Riverina boy, we spoke about getting a Wagga horse but at the end of the day I tried to do the best for the group.

“It’s a bit of fun. Win, lose or draw we’ll have a good time regardless. Matt Dunn is going to make everyone feel like an owner and put them on the email list for all the updates.”

The SPC is already in the process of having hats and ties made for the big day at Randwick on October 13. A large portion of the 486-strong SPC are expected to make the trip.

There are 120 shareholdings in the syndicate and the exact details of the deal with the connections of Care To Think will be revealed later in the week.

Barnhill spoke to connections of 10 country-trained horses before coming to an agreement with Care To Think’s connections.

Care To Think has won six of his 15 race starts, plus four second placings. He underwent a throat operation after finishing unplaced in three group one races during the Brisbane winter carnival.

He will have a jumpout this week ahead of an official trial at Gold Coast on October 2 and go into The Kosciuszko first up.

First price in the Kosciuszko is $685,000.

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