Eduardo, the world's third-highest ranked racehorse, is the headline act this Friday night in Australia, as the “Queensland Winter Carnival” hits top gear at Doomben Racecourse. Eduardo will line up in the Group 1 Doomben 10,000 over six furlongs which will be broadcast live on TVG and available to stream on the new Sky Racing World App (First Post: 9:38 p.m. ET / 6:38 p.m. PT).
Just as America's best eastern stables head south to Florida for the winter, Australia's focus shifts to its northeastern state of Queensland during the Southern Hemisphere winter. In fact, Florida and Queensland share the moniker “Sunshine State.” Queensland's capital, Brisbane, is Australia's third-largest city and my hometown. Its two racetracks, Doomben and Eagle Farm, are across the street from each other and will hold a Group One race six of the next seven weeks.
This Friday night, the G1 Doomben 10,000 is the seventh on a nine-race card. The six furlong weight-for-age event features late-blooming sprint star Eduardo (7-5 favorite). While always hinting at top-level ability, Eduardo was sporadically raced through his 6-year-old season, winning 4 of 13 starts. Since transferring to trainer Joe Pride, the gelding's 7-year-old season has yielded a pair of G2 victories and a G1 triumph from seven outings. His performances during the recent Sydney Autumn Carnival – which included breaking Randwick's five furlong track record in the G1 Galaxy – earned Eduardo his lofty ranking from the International Federation of Racing Authorities. Eduardo hasn't raced for five weeks, but Pride kept him ticking over with a trial (training race) win last Friday in Sydney, before embarking on the 580-mile van ride north to Brisbane.
Eduardo's opposition will include an enormously popular horse named The Harrovian (17-1), who has compiled an astonishing 16:14-2-0 record in Queensland since the beginning of 2019. Most of The Harrovian's exploits have been at lesser quality tracks in the far north of the state, but he won a pair of listed stakes races in Brisbane to cap an 11-race win streak that endeared him to fans statewide. While Eduardo and The Harrovian are both 7-year-old geldings, connections of two prospective stallions would love to notch a G1 win to enhance the commercial value of Wild Ruler (7-2) and Splintex (8-1). Wild Ruler, the lone 3-year-old, is coming off a G2 win during the Sydney Autumn Carnival, while 4-year-old Splintex is a last-start G3 Sydney winner.
The latter's trainer, Mark Newnham, would have been elated after drawing the rail, having earlier stated that “It doesn't matter if it's a Group One or a maiden, post positions going six furlongs at Doomben are vital … one to eight would be ideal.”
Godolphin's chances took a hit when their $5 million earner Trekking (6-1) drew gate 10.
Post positions weren't always as significant in six furlong races at Doomben. Apart from the Melbourne Cup, Flemington Racecourse is famous for its straight six furlong course. Modern-day racing fans – even in Brisbane – would be largely unaware that Doomben once had a “Straight Six” course. The Doomben 10,000 was inaugurated in 1933 as the Doomben Newmarket, and its first nine runnings were down the straight course. In 1942, the land was taken by eminent domain to become part of the neighboring Brisbane Airport. The race's name was changed in 1946 to reflect its purse money (in British pounds), which made the Doomben 10,000 the richest sprint race in Australia. That amount would be currently equivalent to US $590,000; the 2021 Doomben 10,000 field will compete for a purse of US $780,000.
Outside of Friday night's four Group races, great interest surrounds the return to action of Love Tap in Race 3. In the span of four races last year, the 3-year-old son of Tapit went from a debut win at an obscure “country” track to a G3 victory at Sydney's Rosehill Racecourse. An injury in January sidelined Love Tap from the Sydney Autumn Carnival, but the gray gelding is now set to appear for the first time since his only defeat, when well fancied in his Group One debut seven months ago.
The Doomben card will be broadcast live on TVG this Friday night (First Post: 9:38 p.m. ET / 6:38 p.m. PT) alongside cards from Rosehill, Kembla Grange and Gold Coast. All races will be live-streamed in HD on the new Sky Racing World App, skyracingworld.com and major ADW platforms such as TVG, TwinSpires, Xpressbet, NYRABets, WatchandWager, HPIbet, and AmWager. Wagering is also available via these ADW platforms. Fans can get free access to live-streaming, past performances and expert picks on all races at skyracingworld.com.
A native of Brisbane, Australia, Michael Wrona has called races in six countries. Wrona's vast U.S. experience includes; race calling at Los Alamitos, Hollywood Park, Arlington and Santa Anita, calling the 2000 Preakness on a national radio network and the 2016 Breeders' Cup on the International simulcast network. Wrona also performed a race call voiceover for a Seinfeld episode called The Subway.
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