Doomben full racing tips & quaddie picks | May 20, 2023

Race 1: Class 6 Handicap (1600m)

The opening race of the day will be a Class 6 Handicap where we have a field of 12 competing in the 1600m event. After getting no luck at all last start, Rousseau will go on top for us in the first. The gelded son of So You Think hasn’t won since March 2022, however, this is the weakest race that he has contested in recent times, as a few of his main rivals are suspect at the trip. At his last start, this gelding was making solid ground on the home turn before being checked at the top of the home straight, and he then ran up backsides for the next 100m, before finding clear air when the race was all over in the final 100m. With James McDonald taking the ride for this race, his chances will only improve. With even luck this time, Rousseau should be hard to beat.

• 1
  

  ROUSSEAU

• 3
  

  ARGYLE LANE

• 2
  

  WAIRERE FALLS

• 4
  

  CANASTA

Race 2: Class 3 Plate (1350m)

One of the better bets on the card will be Brigantine in the second race of the day, as he will be dropping back from the Listed ATC Cup to a Class 3 Plate and rising from 1200m to 1350m second-up for this preparation. With only one other horse in single figures with most online betting sites, this race appears to be a race between this gelding and Loves Me Likearock. This son of Astern should improve from his first-up run at the Sunshine Coast where he drew the car park and never got on the track, indicating that his 11th place finish by 1.7 lengths, isn’t as bad as it looks in the form guide. The luck at the barrier draw is still against the James Cummings-trained galloper – drawing barrier 14 of 19, but with the further distance and a lack of speed, we should see James Orman push forward and settle in the first five or six upon settling. If Brigantine gets a nice run in transit and doesn’t have to do too much work, he should be winning this.

• 1
  

  BRIGANTINE

• 10
  

  LOVES ME LIKEAROCK

• 4
  

  HATCHET

• 8
  

  STARZAM

Race 3: Listed Bill Carter Stakes (1200m)

The Listed Bill Carter Stakes will be the feature two-year-old race on the Doomben program, where we will have Russian Alliance on top again, after we sided with this smart filly when she won by a flared nostril in the Group 3 Ken Russell Memorial last start. The daughter of Russian Revolution has won five on the bounce this campaign, with her last start effort to get off the canvas and defeat Abounding in the final stride, going down as her best win to date. After her win in the Ken Russell Memorial, her jockey Larry Cassidy explained that she copped a bump in the back straight and had to take a small gap in the home straight, giving her win even more merit. Russian Alliance is clearly a very talented filly, and the only query we have with her on Saturday is barrier one. If Cassidy can extricate off the fence on the home turn and find clear air, she will be very hard to hold out in the concluding stages.

• 1
  

  RUSSIAN ALLIANCE

• 4
  

  ABOUNDING

• 9
  

  ZIA

• 5
  

  MIGHTY

Race 4: Group 3 Pam O’Neill Stakes (1600m)

The first of the Group races will be the Group 3 Pam O’Neill Stakes for Fillies and Mares over 1600m. Princess Rhaenys was transferred to Tony Gollan from Peter Moody last month, and at her first start for Queensland’s top trainer, this five-year-old mare was very good without getting much luck in the final 300m. This daughter of Iffraaj has only ever found the placings once when first-up, however, with her last start sixth where she was only beaten by 1.8 lengths, she indicated to us that she has returned very well this time in. After jumping awkwardly and settling at the rear of the field, Angela Jones just had to let the race unfold in front of her before making her move and pushing the button on this girl, but when she did, she recorded an impressive last 600m split of 35.49 seconds. We anticipate this race to be run at an even to quick tempo, and that should suit a swooper like Princess Rhaenys with a blistering turn of foot.

• 13
  

  PRINCESS RHAENYS

• 16
  

  STREET GOSSIP

• 10
  

  TICK TOCK QUEEN

• 2
  

  PRETTY AMAZING

Race 5: 3YO Plate (1110m)

The 3YO Plate is the toughest race to dissect in our opinion, with form lines coming from everywhere, with some coming through the Mick Dittman Plate, some through the Gold Coast Guineas, and others returning to the racetrack for their first start for the preparation. The one runner that has beaten every horse coming through the Mick Dittman and Gold Coast Guineas is the Annabel Neasham-trained Lady Laguna. After defeating the likes of Golden Boom and Bezique in the Mick Dittman and then running second to Yellow Brick in the Gold Coast Guineas, is it hard to go past the daughter of Overshare here. This filly has the best recent form and wet track form of any runner in this three-year-old contest, therefore, we will be siding with her and hoping she gets luck in running from the ugly barrier draw (14 of 16).

• 11
  

  LADY LAGUNA

• 4
  

  GOLDEN BOOM

• 6
  

  HELLUVA BARTY

• 1
  

  SPACEWALK

Race 6: Listed Chief De Beers (1110m)

One of the more open races of the day will be the Listed Chief De Beers, where only three of the 13 runners are in single figures with most online bookmakers. After finishing fourth in the Listed ATC Cup at the Sunshine Coast, The Big Goodbye appears to be one of the key chances in this race. This five-year-old gelding drew barrier 18 of 18 last start, but thanks to a quick start and a smart front-running ride by Angela Jones, the gelded son of Host was able to settle outside the leader and then fight gamely down the home straight to go down by half a length on the line. Now that he gets back to a track that he loves in Doomben (7:3-1-1) and should find the one-one position from barrier seven, The Big Goodbye should give us a massive sight at the double figure odds that are on offer with most bookies.

• 4
  

  THE BIG GOODBYE

• 6
  

  ZETHUS

• 11
  

  KING KAPA

• 7
  

  GOLDSBOROUGH

Race 7: Group 1 Doomben Cup (2000m)

The Group 1 Doomben Cup is the one of the feature staying events of the Queensland Racing Carnival. The 2021 Doomben Cup winner Zaaki has opened as the $2.15 favourite with online bookmakers, with only two other runners under double figures, which are two of the Chris Waller-trained horses in Kovalica ($8) and Atishu ($9.50). Outside of those three, we have the defending champion Huetor ($11) and Numerian ($14) next in the betting.

Check out our full preview and betting strategy for the Doomben Cup here

Race 8: Group 3 BRC Sprint (1350m)

The Group 3 BRC Sprint is yet another tough race to dissect with several runners coming through a lot of different form lines from Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. After starting his Stradbroke Handicap campaign back in March at Flemington, the Grahame Begg-trained Cardinal Gem is the current favourite and our top tip for this very competitive 1350m contest. The Victorian visitors has been given the visitors draw, after he drew barrier 21 of 21, however, this son of Choisir has shown throughout his career that he can race on-speed, mid-field and swoop from the back of the field and still win, so the barrier shouldn’t be a worry. There appears to be a lot of speed on paper in this year’s BRC Sprint, so if Jordan Childs can push forward and settle two or three lengths off the leaders in the three-wide running line, Cardinal Gem should be able to peel wide at the top of the home straight and finish strong down the outside.

• 3
  

  CARDINAL GEM

• 9
  

  COAL CRUSHER

• 15
  

  UCALLEDIT

• 1
  

  SCALLOPINI

Race 9: Group 2 The Roses (2000m)

The final race of the day will be the Group 2 The Roses, which is the traditional lead-up race for the Queensland Oaks in two weeks’ time. We will have Renaissance Woman on top here, as we were with her last start when finished over the top the rest of the field in the Listed Gold Coast Bracelet over 1800m. After the leaders set a solid tempo last start, the race was set up perfectly for this daughter of Reliable Man to storm home down the outside and finish the strongest of any filly in the race. As she will be meeting many of her rivals that she beat in The Bracelet again in the The Roses, it is hard to see anything coming out of that race and beating over the added 200m. The New Zealand-trained filly Sakura Girl is the unknown commodity in this race, but she is nearing the end of her first racing preparation, which has spanned seven starts over seven months. Josh Parr will ride Renaissance Woman once again, and from barrier one she should receive the run of the race and prove very hard to beat.

• 3
  

  RENAISSANCE WOMAN

• 7
  

  SAKURA GIRL

• 8
  

  SUPER CHILLED

• 1
  

  FIREBURN