G1 double on Ellsberg's radar

This Saturday marks the 129th running of the Stradbroke Handicap, with a full field of 18 runners expected to take their place at Eagle Farm. With a massive $3 million on offer, the 1400m feature is considered the premier race of the Queensland Winter Carnival. This year's edition is shaping to be the best in some time, as the field includes six…

Converge will contest the Group 1 Kingsford Smith Cup at Eagle Farm on Saturday. Picture: Getty Images Converge returns to the scene of his first Group 1 triumph but co-trainer Adrian Bott has warned it's hard to see him winning Saturday's Kingsford Smith Cup. The Gai Waterhouse and Bott-trained galloper was a two-year-old Group 1 hero at Eagle…

Eleven Eleven winning the Magic Millions Cup in 2022. Photo: Grant Peters/Trackside Photography. Come State of Origin time Sydney trainer Greg Hickman doesn't have much time for Queenslanders but that changes when his stable star Eleven Eleven is in work. The Fastnet Rock gelding has won the vast majority of his $3.1m in earnings in the Sunshine…

Trainer Joe Pride will send boom sprinter Think About It straight to racing's highest level after another impressive win in the Listed Takeover Target Stakes at the Gosford stand-alone meeting last Saturday. Think About It scored his seventh win in just eight starts and vaulted to outright $4.50 favouritism for the Group $3m Stradbroke Handicap…

Rothfire fought off the challengers to win the Victory Stakes at Eagle Farm. Picture: Grant Peters-Trackside Photography Gun Sydney jockey Nash Rawiller helped to write another fairytale chapter in the extraordinary Rothfire story as the Group 1-winning gelding went bang in his own Eagle Farm backyard. Rothfire has staged several injury comebacks…

Private Eye's penchant for Eagle Farm has trainer Joe Pride thinking of extending the talented sprinter's Brisbane carnival campaign. Pride's long-term plan to prepare Private Eye for the $15m The TAB Everest in October virtually begins at Eagle Farm on Saturday in the Group 2 $300000 Victory Stakes (1200m). But Pride wants to give Private Eye…

Fresh off a winning double at Flemington on Saturday, Linda Meech will ride at Eagle Farm next weekend the first time in nearly four years when she partners the Peter Moody-trained Chain Of Lightning in the $3 million Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap. Her last visit to Brisbane's premier track was to ride Amish Boy for Ciaron Maher and Dave Eustace to…

Trainer Joe Pride had mixed emotions as he watched a stable favourite fade in the straight while watching an up-and-comer collect his first Group 1 prize at Eagle Farm. Think About It extended his record to eight wins from nine starts with his victory in the Group 1 Kingsford Smith Cup (1300m) at Eagle Farm on Saturday. While delighted with the…

Diverting to Plan B could see trainer Joe Pride rewarded with more group 1 glory when stable weapon Private Eye lines up in Saturday's Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) at Eagle Farm. Pride had been campaigning his Epsom Handicap hero in Sydney with limited success as Private Eye was forced to battle through NSW much publicised big wet. The star son of…

Desleigh Forster landed her first Group 1 with Apache Chase on Saturday. Picture: Grant Peters-Trackside Photography. After a month of relentless rain, Group 1 racing finally returned to Queensland on Saturday, as the winter carnival rolls on towards the Stradbroke Handicap. YAYS 1 - Nash Rawiller The star hoop had every right to be more concerned…

Co-trainer Dean Krongold is convinced Brooklyn Hustle's day will come in a Group 1 race. But Saturday's Group 1 Kingsford-Smith Cup (1300m) at Eagle Farm will probably be one of the mare's last chances for the stars to align. Brooklyn Hustle has had 12 cracks at winning a Group 1 race with her best results being a trio of fourths. But the mare is…

Brooklyn Hustle will have her 13th crack at a Group 1 win in Saturday's Kingsford-Smith Cup at Eagle Farm. Picture: AAP Co-trainer Dean Krongold is convinced Brooklyn Hustle's day will come in a Group 1 race. But Saturday's Group 1 Kingsford-Smith Cup (1300m) at Eagle Farm will probably be one of the mare's last chances for the stars to…

Swiss Exile winning at Eagle Farm. Picture: Grant Peters-Trackside Photography Zaaki was set to be Annabel Neasham's star attraction at Eagle Farm on Saturday despite not even racing, but Swiss Exile stole the show, breaking his maiden in impressive fashion in the Group 2 Spirit Of Boom Classic. The colt was a beaten odds-on favourite in a midweek…

Apache Chase will kick-off his winter campaign in The Archer at Rockhampton. Picture: Grant Peters-Trackside Photography The central Queensland beef capital of Rockhampton would at first glance appear an unlikely first plank of a Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap mission, but such is the changing face of Australian racing. It's where Desleigh Forster and…

The special bond that can exist between a racehorse and its trainer is well exemplified by the relationship Jenny Graham has with her warhorse Victorem. Graham gets emotional just talking about Victorem, as she did when asked about her Stradbroke Handicap contender at the big race barrier draw on Tuesday. "I love Victorem," said Graham with…

Trainers Robert and Luke Price are set to look towards the'win-and-you're-in' Group 3 Fred Best Classic later this month to give emerging three-year-old Count De Rupee his shot at Stradbroke Handicap glory. Count De Rupee booked his ticket to the Sunshine State when the talented son of Real Impact proved too strong as favourite to win the last at…

Online bookmaker Ladbrokes are offering Punters at Eagle Farm and Flemington this weekend 30% Better Fixed Odds on nominated races paid out as cash! Make sure you get the biggest odds this weekend with Ladbrokes. H ow To Bet with Ladbrokes: The Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival reaches its pinnacle this Saturday, with no less than three Group 1 races…

In form Melbourne jockey Blake Shinn has been booked for the ride on Rothfire in his upcoming Group 1 engagement. Rothfire is set to contest the Kingsford Smith Cup (1300m) at Eagle Farm on Saturday for which he is the second favourite in latest markets. The Robert Heathcote-trained gelding has been plagued by injuries throughout his career after…

Joe Pride says it is now up to Think About It as the gelding is about to embark on his first assault at Group 1 level. Defeated once in eight starts, Think About It is a dual winner in Stakes company but will need to lift the bar on Saturday in the Kingsford Smith Cup (1300m) at Eagle Farm. Not only will it be Think About It's first foray at Group…

There are two G1 races at Eagle Farm this Saturday plus many other features on a day which has three $1million contests. The main race of the 3yos over the carnival is the G1 Queensland Derby (2400m) where Kovalica ($1.80) is short odds to back up his excellent run in the Doomben Cup and win the major. Around him there are some other young stayers…

Ben Hayes will chase Group 1 success this weekend in Brisbane, but the Lindsay Park co-trainer can't help but be excited by what will take place in Victoria this week. Stable star Mr Brightside returns to work as he strives to assert himself as Australia's premier middle-distance performer. The son of Bullbars hasn't started since winning…

Michael Kent Jnr knows there is just as much chance of A Case Of You drawing a wide barrier this weekend as there has been in each of his previous Australian runs, but the Cranbourne trainer desperately hopes his run of tricky gates has come to an end. The imported stallion will chase his first Australian win in Saturday's $700000 Group 1 Kingsford…

Sircconi will start a campaign that trainer Nick Ryan hopes may lead to a Group 1 contest in Brisbane at Sandown on Saturday. The only thing that will stop Sircconi making his racetrack return at Sandown will be if the track is too firm. Sircconi has been allotted 60kg for his return run over 1400m on Saturday, but trainer Nick Ryan said the…

It's the jewel in the crown of the Brisbane winter and $3 million goes on the line in Saturday's Stradbroke Handicap at Eagle Farm. Won by many stars of the Australasian turf throughout its storied existence, the 2023 Stradbroke Handicap field is again dripping with talent, and a terrific betting race has materialised. I've run the rule over the…