Doomben Cup and BTC Cup: Group 1 tips and preview

A couple of weight-for-age races await us as we enter the thick of the Queensland Group 1 racing season.

The Doomben Cup is the headline affair of the day if the prizemoney is to be believed, and has attracted a mix of proven southern state carnival gallopers struggling for their best form, and horses that have been around for a while with good form at the lower levels.

The bookies have declared the latter group of horses to be the most likely to take the race out, with Pornichet, Leebaz and I’m Imposing heading the markets.

Pornichet raced well enough through the Sydney carnival to jump as favourite in the Doncaster down near the minimum, and backed that run up with a strong Toowoomba Cup win carrying 60.5kg’s to ready him for this assignment.

Leebaz has followed a similar path, albeit not running quite as well in the Donnie as Pornichet, but has used that platform as the base for a WFA win in the Hollindale a fortnight ago.

There’s every chance these two will race in a pair right up on the speed, if not in fact leading them along.

I’m Imposing will be spotting the aforementioned duo many lengths start at the top of the straight, but has maintained career-best form, as a nine-year-old, over the 2014-15 racing season. His Hollindale third behind Leebaz, a month after doing more than enough in the George Ryder, suggests he’ll be a player here.

Silent Achiever has put together a campaign of runs rated somewhere between OK and plain, but at some point excuses become reality and it’s hard not to think that her best days are behind her now.

Foreteller has never really been one to string wins together, but is usually good for one a prep. He ran well off a freshen in the Hollindale, and might be ready to strike here.

Hawkspur has amassed a lot of starts for a five year old that has always competed at the higher levels, and is showing signs of having been run into the ground. Moriarty doesn’t appear to have come up after his fruitful Perth campaign.

Gypsy Diamond was brave with a big weight racing upside down in the Wagga Cup, and did have the measure of Leebaz two starts back, but meets him well worse at the weights for it in this.

Epingle is perennially underrated and rarely puts in a bad one once up at the staying distances, as those who benefited from the $21 on offer at the Gold Coast last start well knew. She’s suited at the WFA scale.

Banca Mo will be in the right spot, and his form around Big Memory suggests he can also add value to the multiples for those playing exotics.

Weary is another that could surprise at big odds after taking on the cream of the Sydney crop over the last few months, but is a distance query. Green Moon’s winning days look behind him.

Selections: 1. I’m Imposing 2. Pornichet 3. Foreteller 4. Epingle

The BTC Cup is turning into one of the better Group 1 sprints on the Australian calendar, and has attracted another wonderful field, laden with quality horses, and even better storylines.

Our Boy Malachi and Srikandi are winners, having only tasted defeat twice each across careers totalling a combined 28 starts.

Srikandi just failed to get there in the Stradbroke last year, but returned with authority to beat a very handy field first-up in the Victory Stakes. She looks something special.

Our Boy Malachi faces his acid test now, having proven himself too good at the lower grades. Will the winner just keep on winning, or come unstuck at the Group 1 hurdle like stablemate Deep Field did?

Trust in a Gust is the ultimate Darren Weir special, is another ‘winner’, and deserves his place in the market as a dual Group 1 winner, especially given the horses he was beating in that spring campaign. He lost few admirers with his return at Caulfield, and is ready to strike again.

Scissor Kick heads the armada of three-year-olds outside Srikandi, always thereabouts in the best Group 1 races, but never quite being able to win.

Bring Me The Maid brings the x-factor in some regards, but her best runs have tended to be on rain affected ground.

Nostradamus and Time for War ran the quinella in the Gold Coast Guineas, the form around them is of Group 1 material, and you could easily back either at the attractive $35 mark.

Veterans Temple of Boom, Fontelina and Hot Snitzel will give their supporters a decent run and be somewhere around the mark. Knoydart is always knocking on the door, but it’s been a while between drinks.

Sacred Star came from nowhere to bolt together back-to-back Group 1 sprints in New Zealand. You can draw a line through his form to suggest he can be a trifecta chance.

El Roca is the genuine wildcard of the race, having not been seen in over a year when he was mixing it with the absolute best around. He’s the sort of horse that could become the story of the Queensland winter if he can recapture his best.

What a race it promises to be, with not just the talent on display, but the storylines that accompany them. We could be in for something special.

Selections: 1. Srikandi 2. Trust In Gust 3. Scissor Kick 4. Nostradamus