Welcome to Shep’s Brisbane Breakdown, where each week I’ll dive into the highlights, key moments and horses to follow from the Brisbane Racing Club’s Saturday meeting, kicking off with a Queensland Guineas Day review!
Saturday’s meeting at Eagle Farm saw the commencement of Stradbroke Season and was nothing short of spectacular, featuring thrilling races, standout performances, and a vibrant atmosphere that truly captured the essence of the Winter Carnival.
From emerging stars to seasoned stars, the Queensland Guineas Day program delivered unforgettable moments that will be talked about for years to come.
Let’s break down all the action from this exciting day of racing!
Depth Of Character dominates Queensland Guineas
The Annabel & Rob Archibald-trained Depth Of Character continued his love affair with Eagle Farm on Saturday when he claimed the G2 Queensland Guineas in dominant fashion.
Following a third placing in the Listed Oxlade Stakes during last year’s Stradbroke Season, the son of Deep Field has won three straight races at Queensland Racing headquarters.
Saturday’s victory in the $350k mile feature was his best performance to date.
The three-year-old gelding enjoyed a beautiful run for Noel Callow before letting down powerfully to win by 2.35 lengths.
Annabel Archibald was surprised that his starting price was $6.50 given the excellent form Depth Of Character brought into the Guineas.
“I actually thought he might be a little bit shorter in the market just with his Sydney form,” Archibald said.
“Two starts back he was very good behind Evaporate and Swift Falcon.
“He was still pretty good in the in the (Randwick) Guineas as well, but just not quite as good as the Broadsidings of the world.
“But, back in grade last start with a big weight just gave him a bit of confidence, and it was a lovely ride by Noel (Callow).
“He knew that he can get a little bit fired up and actually I was a bit worried he was traveling too well but once he peeled him out of the top of the straight it was just a matter of holding him together and pressing the button at the right time.”
The Ladbrokes Traders wound Depth Of Character into $10 for the G1 Ladbrokes Queensland Derby over 2400m but Archibald suggested that a race over a shorter target may be more suitable.
“We’ll see where we go to now,” Archibald said.
“There’s no real mile races so it’s whether you go up or down (in distance).
“I’m not sure you’d go up (in distance), so I’ll see what Noel says, but it was brilliant to get a Group Two win with him.
“Maybe the Fred Best Classic if I was just thinking off the top of my head.
“He’s been in a while, but he’s racing so well, and he seems to love it up here.”
Runner-up Churchill’s Choice was the only filly in the race and produced an excellent audition for the G1 Queensland Oaks.
The Nathan Doyle-trained daughter of Churchill found the line strongly to finish second forcing Ladbrokes to mark her as the $5.50 second favourite in next month’s feature for the fillies.
Beau Dazzler started his Ladbrokes Queensland Derby campaign in fine style, charging through the line to finish third by 2.88 lengths.
Co-trainer Maddy Sears has an opinion of the Ardrossan colt who won the G3 Ladbrokes Grand Prix during the summer and is now a $9 chance for the Derby.
Libertad causes boilover in Victory Stakes
Libertad capped an outstanding day for the Archibald stable when he claimed an unlikely win in the G2 Victory Stakes.
The four-year-old entire was second-up following a yearlong break due to several setbacks including a septic joint and a stress fracture with the market giving him no hope, marking him a $71 chance.
However, he made a mockery of the huge price as he duked it out with Jedibeel to get his head down at the right time to claim the $300k feature by a lip.
The recently married Archibald is one of the most astute operators in the racing game and knew that Libertad had the credentials to produce what he did.
“On his old form, I knew he’d be up to it,” Archibald said.
“He’s won two Group races, one as a two-year-old and one as a three-year-old, and then was placed behind Joliestar in the Arrowfield.
“So, I knew he had the form on the board, but I just wondered if he was maybe a run short.
“He’s very talented, and he’s only going to improve off that because he’s still not fully wound up.”
Given the son of Russian Revolution’s past injuries, Archibald hadn’t looked past Saturday’s Victory Stakes but her focus is now firmly on the G1 Ladbrokes Doomben 10,000 in two weeks.
“We thought we’d get today (Saturday) out of the way and then work it out,” Archibald said.
“There’s a nice Group One in a couple of weeks, obviously that’ll be stronger again, but I’ll sit down with the owners, and we’ll work out a bit of a plan.”
Following his Victory Stakes heroics, the Ladbrokes traders slashed his price from triple figures to $34.
The Victory Stakes is a key lead up to Stradbroke Season G1 sprint races such as the Ladbrokes Doomben 10,000, Kingsford Smith Cup and Stradbroke Handicap.
Jedibeel was touted as a strong Stradbroke Season contender and remains well in the Ladbrokes Doomben 10,000 market at $15 following his heartbreaking second.
It was a strange edition of the Victory Stakes given favoured runners Far Too Easy, Coleman and Hidden Wealth all finished towards the tail while several horses at big prices stood up.
Local cult hero Rothfire was excellent in his return to racing, giving a great sight in front to finish fourth when he was entitled to weaken after copping pressure in the run and will press on to the Ladbrokes Doomben 10,000.
The Chris & Corey Munce-trained Payline finished ninth but clocked 33.34 seconds for the final 600m which was the quickest all day and he’s a horse to follow when conditions suit.
Munce dreams of G1 glory for Cool Archie
Champion former jockey, now skilled trainer Chris Munce is setting his sights on a Group 1 title for his two-year-old Cool Archie following Saturday’s Listed Dalrello Stakes win.
The Cool Azza Beel colt has come back this preparation in fine form with back-to-back wins.
After winning his maiden over 1200m on a heavy deck at Doomben first-up, Cool Archie was fancied by the market in the Dalrello Stakes and started as a $4.40 second favourite.
Under the guidance of Martin Harley, Cool Archie settled handy in the 1000m contest before producing a powerful finish despite receiving a decent bump to hold off the challenge of favourite Torque To Be Sure.
Munce, who co-trains with his son Corey, was full of praise for his young steed.
“He was a bit fresh today,” Munce said.
“I was a bit surprised that he raced that close.
“I could see in the parade ring that he was a bit above himself, so he’s only going to improve again off this.
“He’s a tough little bugger.
“He got buffeted at the start and then on the corner and still kicked on strong so, it’s a credit to him.
“He’s mentally wiser and more mature and I suppose he’s race fit horse now.
The last 100m obviously helped him coming from a 1200m first-up win to this.”
While Cool Archie hasn’t raced beyond 1200m, Munce’s end goal for the two-year-old is the G1 Ladbrokes JJ Atkins over 1600m.
“He was always going to go on that Sires’ (BRC Sires’ Produce), JJ (Atkins) path,” Munce said.
“He’ll go to the Spirit Of Boom in two weeks time and then into the Sires’ and JJ.
As his name suggests, Cool Archie has a laid-back nature which will help him run out a strong mile in the Stradbroke Handicap Day feature.
“He’s the quietest horse,” Munce noted.
“You could put a child on him, and he wouldn’t turn a hair.”
Cool Archie is a $51 chance with Ladbrokes in the G1 Ladbrokes JJ Atkins.
Runner-up Torque To Be Sure lost no admirers for the two-year-old grand final with his second placing.
The Munce stable ended Saturday’s Queensland Guineas Day meeting on a high when their mare Pierata’s Gem saluted in the final race.
Following Libertad’s win at huge odds in the race before, the daughter of Pierata sent punters home with their tails between their legs when she lobbed at $41.
Co-trainer Corey Munce said that the team were hopeful that the three-year-old filly could finish in the first three or four, but a downpour earlier in the day increased his confidence.
“I was quite happy with this filly earlier but when we had the downpour of rain, she loves getting her toe in the ground and those things make a difference,” Munce said.
“Her work was very good on Tuesday.
“We gave her a little bit of time in the paddock which was great, and she certainly has come on in between runs.
“We spoke pre-race and we wanted to let her find her feet and let her use the barrier.
“It was a sweet ride by Cejay (Graham) getting up on the fence which they haven’t been doing much today (Saturday).”
Snack Bar was heavily backed in the race, starting $1.65, but the Godolphin gelding disappointed to finish sixth.
Gollan starts Stradbroke Season with winning double
It’s rare that Queensland’s leading trainer Tony Gollan isn’t front and centre at a Saturday Brisbane metropolitan meeting and that was certainly the case on the weekend.
The 11x Queensland metropolitan premiership winner helped himself to a winning double with stable newcomer Floozie and Rising Pacific.
Floozie was the hottest bet all around the country on Saturday with punters seemingly jumping out of trees to get on her, backing her into a $1.45 favourite.
She duly saluted, easily winning the Fillies & Mares Benchmark 78 Handicap by 2.6 lengths.
The Zoustar mare may have only had the two starts for Gollan, but the popular conditioner has already formed a strong opinion of her and sees winter riches in her future.
“I’ve got a real thing for floozies, that’s for sure,” Gollan joked.
“She’s a ripper this mare and just goes through the grades nicely.
“Even going into that first-up run, I felt she’s the mare, even though her rating wasn’t, wasn’t high, that if we could win early with her, we could get into some good mares’ races during the Carnival.”
“I think what we’ve seen today (Saturday) shows that I’d love to back her up in the Silk Stocking next Saturday at the Gold Coast.
“She’s definitely better level than this benchmark racing.
“She’s a big, strong girl, and we’re nowhere near the bottom of her yet so she’s quite exciting.
“She reminds me a lot of Comrade Rosa when she was going through the grades a couple of winters ago.”
If you haven’t already, you must put Floozie in your Ladbrokes Blackbook so you don’t miss out on her future wins which look likely of happening as soon as Saturday!
Gollan also tasted success with Rising Pacific in the Benchmark 90 Handicap over 1835m.
The five-year-old gelding has always promised a lot but he’s finally delivering on that now thanks to Gollan working out that the key to success with him is dry tracks.
Saturday’s win was Rising Pacific’s third in a row and his first past a mile.
Gollan was always confident he was up to the task.
“I’ve always wanted to get him out past the mile because he has had the pedigree and the lungs for it, but he never had the temperament,” Gollan explained.
“He’s always wanted to rush things and do too much.
“This preparation we’ve just seen a better horse and getting a bit of continuity with the jockey on all the time, our trackwork rider Christine who rides him every day, and getting these Good 4 tracks, these are what he really wants.
“The race was always going to set up perfectly for him.
“The only nerves I had coming into this was that we were here by default, not by design.
“We were meant to be in a Listed race last week and bad weather struck.”
Rising Pacific is the only horse I’d like to follow further into Stradbroke Season as I think there’s a nice race in him, but it will depend on whether he gets track conditions to suit.
Omen bet of the day a polling booth winner
Those that love an omen bet would have been rubbing their hands together on Saturday with Ser Joh.
With Australian’s going to the polling booth to vote in the country’s Federal election, it was appropriate that a horse that shares the name of Queensland’s 31st premier would salute on the same day.
The Rob Heathcote-trained son of Capitalist battled for favouritism with Deep Respect in the Colts, Geldings & Entires Benchmark 78 Handicap.
The market was spot on with the pair going head-to-head in the straight with Ser Joh getting the better of his rival right on the winning post.
Stable representative Jarred Coetzee said that Ser Joh has had a few issues and lives in ice boots but credited jockey Tim Clark for a great ride.
While black-type wins during the carnival are perhaps beyond Ser Joh and Deep Respect, there’s more wins to come for the pair and they are clearly the two horses to follow from the race.
Pride Of Jenni Stradbroke Season bound
While she didn’t race at Eagle Farm’s Queensland Guineas Day meeting, it can’t go without being mentioned that Pride Of Jenni is Brisbane bound.
The mighty mare who has captured the racing community’s hearts with her bold front-running tactics, was at a crossroads on Saturday when she lined up in the Listed Anniversary Vase at Caulfield.
Thankfully, for Brisbane racing fans, ‘Jenni’ will contest the G1 Doomben Cup at her next start.
The Ladbrokes traders have her as a $6 second favourite.