The Doomben 10,000 meeting will be held at Doomben on Saturday. The course proper was rated a Heavy 8 on Thursday and with further showers leading up to the weekend, Doomben is likely to be racing on a Heavy track on raceday.
The Robert Heathcote-trained Privlaka will have conditions to suit in the Ambassador Travel BM85 Handicap (Brisbane Race 2, 1350m). The 4YO gelding is an absolute swimmer having never missed a place in the wet, excelling on Heavy tracks winning both starts in the condition. Stepping up to 1350m 4th up looks perfect. Regular jockey Damian Browne will once again be aboard and from barrier 13, Privlaka will go forward and settle behind the pace in a handy spot. Privlaka will be hard to catch in the run home.
Kiwi 3YO Hall Of Fame is already a Group 1 winner and he could be the horse to beat in the Suez Queensland Day Stakes (Brisbane Race 5, 1350m). Hall Of Fame won the Group 1 Levin Classic (1600m) in January beating subsequent Australian Derby winner Jon Snow. The colt finished 5th 1st up a fortnight ago over 1200m after travelling wide from the 800m. And he has a good record over this trip winning twice from 3 attempts. Hall Of Fame has never raced on Heavy tracks before but he did win twice on Soft tracks. Given that he is by Savabeel, it’s likely that he will relish the Heavy condition. Opie Bosson will fly over to Queensland to keep his association with the colt. From barrier 4, Bosson will settle mid-field before Hall Of Fame unleashing his strong sprint in the straight.
Stephen Marsh-trained 4YO Chocante is primed to peak on Saturday in the Chairman’s Handicap (Brisbane Race 6, 2000m). The Shocking gelding won the Group 3 Counties Cup in New Zealand over this distance before his spell. Stepping up to 2000m 3rd up on Saturday should be perfect and he will have no problem handling the anticipated Heavy condition. Champion Queensland jockey Jim Byrne will be onboard and that’s another plus as nobody knows Doomben better than Byrne. Chocante will settle somewhere mid-field from barrier 8 and he’ll be hard to hold out.
Defending Doomben 10,000 Champion Music Magnate could successfully defend his crown in this year’s 1200m version of the race (Brisbane Race 7, 1200m). The Bjorn Baker-trained gelding missed the Spring Carnival and came back and won the Expressway Stakes 1st up in early Autumn. After failing in Group 1 The Galaxy, Baker did give Music Magnate a freshen up, before sending the 5YO to an 800m trial on 21st April in which the gelding won by 6 lengths. And a week later, Music Magnate took out the Group 2 Victory Stakes, sprinting the last 600m in 36.35secs on a Soft 7 track. From barrier 7, Jeff Lloyd will settle Music Magnate just behind the likely leader Redzel. As long as Doomben has not become a bottomless track, I expect Music Magnate to win back-to-back Doomben 10,000.
By Owens Wong, Editor
