Prominent owner Francis Cook knew as soon as he saw Linebacker and Evaporate as yearlings that he wanted his and wife Christine’s colours on them.

And when Rosehill trainers Lee and Cherie Curtis, who won the 2016 VRC Oaks with the Cooks’ 100-1 shot Lasqueti Spirit, came to him with a chance to have their colours on Modella, he quickly agreed.

On Saturday, those choices will give the Cooks a trio of first chances in the $10 million Golden Eagle at Royal Randwick.

The Cooks’ silks of maroon, white crossed sashes, yellow armbands and cap are a regular sight in Sydney and Melbourne racing across 22 stables, but they have never been in the four-year-old feature, the second-richest race in Australia.

And they are in the 16-horse field with quality, not just quantity.

John O’Shea and Tom Ch

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