WINTER CARNIVAL GIVES POWER BACK TO THE HORSE AS QUEENSLAND RACING RESETS FOCUS TO THE POSITIVE

By Graham Potter | Friday, May 11, 2018

Graham Potter writes a weekly column for the Sunshine Coast daily. Due to demand from those having trouble accessing the paper these columns are now also published on HRO courtesy of the Sunshine Coast daily.

The game is on!

After having to endure a long period in which negativity seemed to pervade many aspects of the industry in Queensland, racing’s focus will be reset to the positive tomorrow with the first Saturday of the Brisbane Winter Carnival thankfully giving the power back to the horse and the excitement that a thoroughbred race can generate.

Racing, after-all, is what the core business is all about and the passion it creates is entrenched in the Aussie soul. In the end, the fashions, the corporate marquees, the private parties, the entertainment … and more … all contribute substantially to the specific, up-beat atmosphere that sets a carnival race-day apart from the rest but, for all of there importance in making the day viable for the host club, for true racegoers at least, they are really the sideshows playing second fiddle to the main event.

And that tomorrow is the Doomben 10 000.

No less than half of the fourteen-strong field are already Group 1 winners with this year’s challenge being headed by the Doomben 10 000 defending champion Redzel, who certainly does set the standard. Also the winner of the 2017 The Everest, Redzel has amassed just over $8.5 million in prize money coming via a fifty percent strike rate from his twenty-four starts.

The 2017 Stradbroke winner Impending, a winner over the track and distance two weeks ago, will be looking for back to back wins as he lines up a path to a second Stradbroke. In Her Time finished second in that 2017 Stradbroke. Since then she has landed that elusive Group 1 (in the Galaxy) underlining her claims in this competitive line-up.

Le Romain, English, Lucky Hussler and The Mission are the others who have tasted Group 1 success but the outcome is not necessarily safely in their Group 1 club’s keeping.

The local stables justifiably having a crack at the big win are Matthew Dunn (Care To Think), Toby Edmonds (Houtzen), Tony Gollan (Most Important), Darryl Hansen (Monsieur Gustave). All have the element of home ground advantage in play while the ever-powerful training partnership of Hayes / Dabernig have the numerical advantage being the only stable to send out two runners (Spieth and Thronum). None of these runners can be counted out … and neither can the Burning Passion who completes the line-up.

All in all, racing in Queensland looks set for a great day out and let’s hope it gets the positive attention the occasion deserves.