Sprinting stars and wannabe Melbourne Cup heroes take pride of place on Saturday as the Brisbane Winter Carnival kicks into top gear and Flemington stages one of its Golden Ticket entry races for the great race later this year.
Peter Moody’s top quality sprinter I Wish I Win dominates markets for the group 1 Doomben 10,000 and will be strongly fancied to give his trainer – who began his solo career at Eagle Farm more than two decades ago – his first winner in Queensland in a decade or more.
In the Victorian capital none of the stayers contesting the listed Andrew Ramsden Stakes over 2800 metres have achieved as high rank in their fields as Moody’s speedster has in his, but they will also provide a captivating contest, albeit of a different kind.
The NZ bred and owned I Wish I Win has only been out of the first three twice in his 19 starts and with James McDonald aboard the son of Savabeel will get every assistance from the saddle as he looks to build on his first up third in the group 1 TJ Smith Stakes behind stablemate Chain of Lightning.
Moody said earlier in the week that he believed the black gelding was a superior horse to the grey mare who beat him last time but that both travelled to Brisbane in good form and ready to show their best.
I Wish I Win has just under half a length to make up on Chain of Lightning for that TJ Smith run and with normal improvement (that was his first start since his second place finish in The Everest some six months before) he should be able to turn the tables.
However at the likely prices his stablemate might represent better each way value, especially if the track comes up with give in the ground. She relished the heavy surface in the TJ Smith and while the going was too deep for even her when she ran down the track in the All Aged Stakes subsequently she could, like so many mares, blossom in the Queensland warmth this time of the year and show some improvement.
The ultra consistent Private Eye will ensure that whatever wins (if not him) has to run to peak form while another who likes some dig in the ground, the Snowdens sprinter Mazu, bounced back to form after a run of outs when taking out the Hall Mark Stakes last time.
Bella Nipotina is a regular in group 1 sprints all over Australia and she too must enter calculations for each way punters and those who take exotics: this trip to Queensland follows runs in Victoria, NSW and WA in her previous three starts, the best of which was when she split Moody’s pair in the TJ Smith.
At Flemington the Ramsden features a host of gallopers whose current ratings would almost certainly leave them short of a start in the Melbourne Cup but who can guarantee themselves a place in the field with a victory in this contest.
One of the more interesting runners is the Ciaron Maher trained import Lionel, a son of Lope De Vega, a high class miler out of a Galileo mare called Gretchen – a combination which should produce the right blend of stamina and speed.
Lionel had been off the track for 18 months before making his Australian debut at Mornington a month ago. Easy in the market at $21 he worked home strongly over the 2000 metre trip to finish third.
As a pipe opener for this sort of race it looked ideal, and given his form in his few starts in Europe, where he was twice successful over 2200 metres, the Ramsden trip should hold no terrors.
He was considered promising enough to run in the Irish Derby at only his fourth race course start although he finished tailed off behind Westover. He showed that run was too bad to be true when he reappeared 13 weeks later to run third in the listed Noel Murless Stakes at Ascot at the end of September 2022 – his penultimate racecourse appearance before his Mornington run.
He has been kept safe in the betting at around $8 and although he has plenty to find on official ratings with his rivals he probably has more upside than most in this field. He will certainly need to show it to have any chance of beating the Cup ballot and winning the Golden Ticket from the Ramsden.
