Doomben Cup 2024 betting preview & top tips | Saturday, May 25

What	2024 Doomben Cup
Where	Doomben Racecourse – 75 Hampden St, Ascot QLD 4007
When	Saturday, May 25, 2024
Prizemoney	$1,000,000
Distance	2000m
Conditions	Weight-For-Age
2023 winner	Huetor (6) \| T: Peter & Paul Snowden \| J: Ryan Maloney (59kg)
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The Group 1 Doomben Cup will headline a massive 10-race program as the Brisbane Racing Club hosts the second of two straight meetings at Doomben Racecourse for the Queensland Racing Carnival. Chris Waller, Annabel Neasham, and the Adrian Bott & Gai Waterhouse barn have a stranglehold on the race, with nine out of the 16 runners hailing from those three stables.

After racing with the rail in the +4m position last Saturday, it moves in to the +2m position this weekend, which should allow the track to play as fairly as possible. Huetor will seek to become the first horse since Rough Habit in 1993 to claim three straight Doomben Cups; however, this year’s field appears to be one of the strongest in some time.

Doomben Cup 2024 odds

Following his third-place finish in the A.D. Hollindale Stakes, Kovalica from the Waller yard is a +240 favourite with online bookmakers. Huetor and Detonator Jack sit together on the second line of betting at +500, just ahead of Hollindale winner Numerian (+600). The chances don’t end there, as Fawkner Park (+1400), Vow And Declare (+1700), Serpentine (+1700), Amokura (+1700) and Hoo Ya Mal (+1700) are given good chances at double figures.

2024 Doomben Cup speed map

With Serpentine, Hoo Ya Mal and New Endeavour hailing from the Waterhouse & Bott stable, it is expected that those three will go forward and set a solid tempo. Vow And Declare, Numerian and Young Werther will find spots behind the speed from inside barriers, while Naval College may have to push forward from barrier 13. Fawkner Park, Kovalica, Huetor and Amokura will appreciate a good tempo so they can run home strongly from the rear of the field.

Continue reading for HorseBetting’s top selections and $100 betting strategy for the 2024 Doomben Cup.

Doomben Cup 2024 preview & form

Kovalica comes into the 2024 Doomben Cup off a solid run in the Hollindale Stakes, where he finished off nicely into third place on a Heavy track. This son of Ocean Park ran in this race as a three-year-old last year and was far from disgraced behind Huetor and Numerian, and even though he meets them worse at the weights this year, he has only been running in Group races since. From barrier three, Nash Rawiller will be able to settle a little closer to the speed and give Kovalica every chance to play a prominent role in the finish.

The booking of James McDonald for his first ride on Detonator Jack is an intriguing one. After being nosed out by Just Folk in the Group 3 Hawkesbury Gold Cup, the Ciaron Maher-trained galloper has been given his first crack at 2000m in his 20th start. Barrier 10 is the only worry with this guy, but that is offset by having McDonald on his back. If Detonator Jack can find cover and run out a strong 2000m, he has a big chance to cause a minor boilover here.

It is hard to ignore the Hollindale Stakes winner, Numerian, who was very strong over the 1800m trip first-up at the Sunshine Coast. The Annabel Neasham-trained gelding will have taken plenty of benefit from that run, but after drawing a sticky barrier (7), it will be a tough task to go back-to-back now that he takes on Group 1 grade, where he is yet to win in six starts.

New Endeavour was beaten by the smallest of margins last Saturday and will back up in the Cup. He is expected to be one of the key speed influences, and the Waterhouse & Bott-trained stayer looks to be the best of the stable’s three runners in this race.