Queensland Residency Celebrates With 16 Stakes Races
It’s racing, Aussie-style. And that means big money, lots of races, lots of fun, huge fields, and probably several bottles of premium liquor to be gotten through–if the residents in Queensland are anything like my husband–before it’s all over on Queensland Championship Day, one of the biggest racing days on the Queensland calendar.
The huge card this weekend is all about stakes,stakes and more stakes, as the Queensland Residency has completely taken over the entire 16-race card and come up with some extremely interesting–and very rich–stakes races, filled with some quality-laden fields.
But most of all, there’s the cash, and there’ll be lots of that on offer on the 16-race stakes card, featuring horses from two years old and up throughout the day. Over $1.2 million in purses, to be exact, will be distributed on Saturday throughout the 16-race card.
Here’s the lineup for Saturday’s big Queensland Day Championship, sponsored by the Residents of Queensland.
Race 1 — PRINCESS STAKES
$75,000 Purse
Fast Dirt, One Mile
Fillies And Mares, 3 Years Old And Up
Rozelle Humor is a Kentucky-bred daughter of Tiznow who’s ranked number 101 in the three year old middle distance division. She finished second in the Grade 3 Santa Jezebel Stakes earlier this year, and she looks like the real deal here as your 3/1 morning line favorite. She’ll have some hot competition from Rockmore (4/1), who’s coming off a fourth place finish in the Grade 3 Jersey Oaks, where she threw an eye-popping 107 speed figure.
Then there are Hey Cutie (who’s coming off a stakes win herself) and Regrind, who are both listed at 5/1 by the morning line oddsmaker. At 7/1, there’s Distorted Thinking, who’s only raced a handful of times on the dirt but has been inching ever closer to that 100 speed figure mark, especially in her last two races.
Race 2 — SUNSHAFT STAKES
$75,000 Purse
One Mile And Three-Sixteenths, Firm Turf
Fillies And Mares, 3 Years Old
It’s a 20-horse field in the Sunshaft Stakes, and your 9/2 morning line favorite is Boo Bee Bop, who’s been running with the big girls in America and Europe in the graded events. In fact, she’s just coming off her first triple digit speed figure race (105), a first place finish in the Nicole Deposit First Mare Mile in Switzerland. She was third a couple races back in the $750,000 Grade 2 Virginia Cupin America. This one’s got quite a bit of early speed, so keep your eye on her. She’ll likely face her stiffest competition from Lou’s Gift (5/1), a French-bred filly who’s already got over $200,000 in the bank and popped the100 speed figure mark a couple times in her career.
Singapore Sleep and Malibu Delight are both 8/1 in this race. Singapore Sleep just switched to the turf a few races back, while Malibu Delight has been running in some pretty high stakes company across the globe. Both of those will be breaking from the inside barriers and looking to take advantage of some early speed. And at 10/1, there’s Please Come Again, who’s breaking from the 17 barrier in this spot and coming off a couple of graded races herself. Two starts back she was third in the 9 furlong Grade 2 Feeling Badly Stakes.
Gibraltar Girl (19/1) could be a sleeper in this one. She’s the highest ranked horse in the three year old females middle distance turf classic. Might want to keep your eye on her here,too.
Race 3 —THE AMANDA JANE MILE
$75,000 Purse
All Horses, 4 Years Old And Up
One Mile, Firm Turf
The Amanda Jane Mile will see a field of 20 line up,and this one’s for the older horses, four year olds and up. Rozelle Bandit is your morning line favorite here at 6/1, and he’s been running some huge races, throwing speed figures that are out of this world in his last four races. Three and four starts back he popped 112 and 115 speed figures in breezing through a couple of allowance events.
Wiki Form draws an outside barrier here, but on the strength of this one’s performances lately, he’s the second choice here at 8/1. The son of Dynaformer popped a 110speed figure in an allowance race, and in fact, he’s coming in here hot, having won two of his last four starts. Storm Spun is your third choice here at 9/1, and he’s been doing most of his racing on the dirt of late, but still throwing around some pretty impressive speed figures.
Pragmatic Pony’s in here too, at 10/1. Best keep your eye on this one breaking from the inside barrier. He’s the highest ranked horse in the division at #39 and always dangerous.
Race 4 —THE T J SMITH STAKES
$75,000 Purse
All Horses, 2 Years Old
One Mile, Firm Turf
The youngsters take to the course in this 20-horse field in the TJ Smith Stakes, and you’ve got a couple of co-favorites here at 7/1–Rozelle Milan and Shaftsun. Shaftsun’s already got four races under his belt, and he’s coming off a second place finish down in Victoria, where he threw the highest speed figure of his career there (88). Rozelle Milan’s only got one start so far, and he broke his maiden down in New South Wales with a 75 speed figure.
There’s a really interesting son of Twining in this race listed at 8/1. What makes him so interesting is that he’s already got seven career starts as a two year old, and none of them are on the turf. This will be his first start on the turf, and he’s a stakes winner on the dirt.
The Way Of Bernie (11/1) has quite a few starts, as well and he and the New Zealand-bred Walkthruthewall (15-1) are the two highest ranked horses in this race.
Race 5 —KISS OR KILL STAKES
$75,000 Purse
Fillies And Mares, 2 Years Old
One Mile, Firm Turf
The two year old females are here in the Kiss Or Kill Stakes. De Babe (7/2) looks really great in this spot. She’s already a stakes winner, and she’s the highest ranked filly in here at #98. De Babe is a daughter of Encosta De Lago out of a Flying Spur mare.
The Turkish-bred Sabili is right behind her in the betting line at 6/1, and this might be one to keep your eye on. She’s won three of four already in her brief career. The Japanese-bred Star Chasers and the Irish-bred Polyatomic are both 8/1 in this spot. And you’ve got a Husson filly by the name of Ozzy Soap (cute name, this one has) at 9/1. She’s only got two starts so far.
Race 6 —PHOENIX SLIPPER
$75,000 Purse
Fillies And Mares, 2 Years Old
Six Furlongs, Firm Turf
The two year old girls are going to be sprinting 1200 meters in the Phoenix Slipper Stakes. A very nice looking Sea The Stars filly by the name of Seasaw goes off as your 4/1 morning line favorite in this race. Right behind her, at 6/1, is the Aussie-bred Enticing Matches, a daughter of Royal Academy who’s making her first career start here. She’s impressively bred and could spell trouble for Seasaw.
The Irish-bred Shamwow Wow draws the 14-barrier here, but she’s a stakes winner already and your third choice at 6/1. Starspangled Puhoi throws her hat in the ring here, and she just broke her maiden in July over in New Zealand. She’s 7/1, and your fifth favorite at 9/1 is a filly by the name of Haradasunit, an Aussie-bred daughter of Haradasun who is coming off a mile run. She’s got a couple of wins already and looks for more success here with a drop in distance.
Race 7 —CHAMPAGNE CLASSIC
$75,000 Purse
All Horses, 2 Years Old
Six And One Half Furlongs, Firm Turf
It’s another 20-horse cavalry charge when the two year olds take to the turf in the Champagne Classic, a 6.5 furlong sprint. There’s an Irish-bred son of Danehill Dancer,and this one’s been throwing around some pretty impressive speed figures so far. His name is A Minus, and he’s your morning line favorite at 6/1.
Your second favorite at 7/1 is the English-bred son of Makfi, Taking Europe, who’s got some pretty impressive numbers too so far in his brief career. He draws an inside barrier and shows a lot of early speed so far. The New Zealand-bred Sleep Twitch has yet to break his maiden in two starts, but he’s still 8/1 here. And the fourth favorite here is the yet to be raced Ranger Lonhro, at 9/1.
Race 8 —THE ROUGH HABIT PLATE
$75,000 Purse
All Horses, 4 Years Old And Up
A Mile And One Quarter, Fast Dirt
King Island, a son of Kingmambo is the highest ranked (117) horse in the The Rough Habit Plate, at ten furlongs on the dirt course. That’s also the speed figure he threw in his last race, a stakes win in Georgia. He’s also your favorite here at 5/1 and he’s drawn the inside barrier.
Listening and Razil Jazil are both in here at 6/1, but Razil Jazil will have to overcome the 19 barrier if he’s to do any damage in this one. Then, you’ve got theAussie-bred Minimalist, a son of Enemy Of Average, who’s thrown triple digit speed figures in his last nine starts. That’s pretty consistent, and you better keep your eye on this guy. He’s 7/1 in this spot. There’s another pretty interesting Aussie-bred here at 10/1, the four year old son of Starcraft by the name ofArcturus Mengsk.
Race 9 —WOLF OF QUEENSLAND DIRT CLASSIC
$75,000 Purse
Fillies And Mares, 4 Years Old And Up
A Mile And Three Sixteenths, Fast Dirt
The Wolf Of Queensland Stakes will have a field of 19 fillies and mares, four years old and up, go postward, and your morning line co-favorites are The Hippo and Miss Kebab at 6/1. Miss Kebab is ranked 101st in her division. But a mare by the name of Homologation is thehighest ranked mare here at #93, and she’s 8/1, along with Futurist and Form Guide..
There’s another really interesting one in here by the name of Manvswild, and she’s 7/1 and been racing in graded stakes company.
Race 10 — DOOMBEN CUP
$75,000 Purse
All Horses, 3 Years Old
A Mile And One Quarter, Firm Turf
A field of 18 three year olds are going a mile and one quarter on the firm turf in the tenth race on the card, the Doomben Cup.
Artful Mambo is your clear-cut favorite at 9/2, and that one’s thrown triple digit speed figures in five of the last six starts. He was riding a three race win streak earlier in the year before he ran into a bit of a speed bump in the 10-furlong Cigar Bite Turf Route, right here in Queensland.
Then there’s the Irish-bred Enzed Danehill who’s going to be sent off at 5/1, and right behind that one at 6/1, we have a couple of live ones in Special Olympics and Gigawatt, both of whom could make this race really interesting, especially since they’ve drawn inside barriers.
On the outer barriers with favorite Artful Mambo,the favorite here, is the English-bred Motion Sickness, who threw a 112 speed figure a couple starts back in winning the 10-furlong Transcendental Turf Memorial in Turkey.
Race 11 — THE SPIDER PIG STAKES
75,000 Purse
All Horses, 3 Years Old
A Mile And One Sixteenth, Fast Dirt
Twin Win’s (6/1) has drawn the inside barrier here,and right next to that one is the very impressive Wayofthewizard, who will be your morning line favorite at 4/1 for this full field of three year olds going 8.5 furlongs on the dirt. Twin Win’s is ranked 167th in his division, the highest ranking of any of these here.
The Irish-bred Excellent Heart has drawn the 11 post, and that one is 6/1, and then you’ve got the Japanese-bred Promont at 10/1 and the Aussie-bred son of Encosta De Lago by the name of Go Marching In who’s 11/1 in this spot.
Race 12 — POSITIVE DISCISION BABY SPRINT
$75,000 Purse
Fillies And Mares, 2 Years Old
Six Furlongs, Fast Dirt
The two year old fillies take to the dirt course here in the 12th race on the card.
Greenbank is your morning line favorite at 4/1, and we‘ve got yet another Rozelle-named horse, Rozelle Capri listed at 9/2. Greenbank is the highest ranked in this race at 105th.
Behind those two, you have three fillies at 5/1odds: Puhoi Wanted (who might have a big advantage here by drawing the rail), Sweet Potato and Paleolithic.
Race 13 — BTC CUP
$75,000 Purse
All Horses, 3 Years Old And Up
Six Furlongs, Firm Turf
The BTC Cup is a six-furlong event on the turf for the three year olds up, and your morning line favorite here in the full 20-horse field is HSM, an Aussie-bred who’s been throwing some pretty serious speed figures around of late. He’s 5/1,but he’s not even the highest ranked horse in this division in this race. That honor would go to Road Not Taken, who’s ranked 76th in this division. In fact,you’ve got a couple here ranked in the top 100 in what is probably one of the stronger races on Saturday’s Queensland card.
Rozelle Lightning is ranked #100, but he’s only 10/1. Alpine Medicine is your second favorite at 7/1. Then you’ve got Dylan’s Lullaby at 10/1 and Kalbarri on the inside barrier at 11/1.
There are a couple of highly ranked mares in here,too, who could make this one interesting. Anzac Hero is ranked #120 in the older females division and Avie’s Magic is ranked #242 in that same division.
Race 14–BOB THE COB CLASSIC
$75,000 Purse
All Horses, 4 Years Old And Up
A Mile And One Quarter, Firm Turf
The Bob The Cob Classic is going to be a pretty nice race too. The three early favorites have all drawn outside barriers. King Kallis (5/1) will be bouncing out of the 15 barrier, and right behind him on the morning line are Big Gold Digger and the Irish-bred Butcher. They’ll be coming out of the 14 and 17 barriers, respectively. All the longshots are on the inside barriers in this race.
Nusadarah is 8/1, and that one’s run in three consecutive grade 1’s after winning a grade 2 four starts back.
Astronomer’s Choice is 9/1. That one finished second in the Grade 2 Dante’s Inferno a couple starts back. In fact, Astronomer’s Choice has been running in some pretty heavy graded stakes company of late. The Irish-bred son of Galileo, Modern Science, is 9/1 also.
Race 15 — QUEENSLAND DERBY
$75,000 Purse
All Horses, 4 Years Old And Up
A Mile And One Half, Firm Turf
The Irish-bred Stray Dog is definitely the class of the Queensland Derby, having won two grade 1’s coming in here. That one is ranked sixth in the world in his division, and even in a large field like this, he’s 3/1, which is saying quite a bit for this one.
Cup Runnith Over is the second choice at 8/1 and has drawn the far outside barrier here. We’ve got a couple at 9/1, Whispered Secrets and False Motive, who could both be dangerous here. Then there’s the Aussie-bred Hard Victory at 10-1, and he’s got the inside barrier here. And we’ve also got Alpine Wings at 10/1.
Race 16 — AUSTRALIA POST STAKES
$75,000 Purse
All Horses, 2 Years Old
Six And One Half Furlongs, Fast Dirt
The two year olds wind up the day on Queensland Championship Day in the final race in the card. It’s another 20-horse field at 6.5 furlongs on the fast dirt, and your post-time favorite here is Forty Second Street at 7/2. Forty Second Street is a son of Street Cry who’s thrown a couple of 80-ish speed figures in both his starts, without breaking his maiden yet.
And you’ve got three listed behind him in the morning line odds. One For The Mun, Awesome Fawsome, and Allopurinol are all listed at 9/2. Forty Second Street is looking really strong in this one. Keep an eye on Puhoi Brown here, too. He’s listed at 11/1 and could make a strong run in this spot.