One of the great Doomben 10,000 boilovers. Rothfire, the eight-year-old who finished second in the 2025 edition, came back to the race a year on and saluted at $61 in Saturday's Group 1, Brad Rawiller getting the pop he wanted out of the gates from barrier 14 and never relinquishing the front. Robert Heathcote trains the gelding out of Eagle Farm and adds another Group 1 to the Brisbane stable's sheet. The winning time was 1m 10.44s over 1200m on a Soft surface, the rail out 4.5m from the running rail entire circuit. Spicy Martini ran second at $21 for Toby Edmonds and Taylor Marshall, Napoleonic was third at $7.50 for Tom Charlton and James McDonald.
The Field That Wasn't, and the Stayer Who Was
The race lost four runners between Friday afternoon and the gates. Private Eye, the Joe Pride sprinter who had been at the top of the markets all week, was scratched on Friday with a setback. Lady Of Camelot was withdrawn the same evening. Devil Night went out Saturday morning and Abounding pulled the pin late, which was how Napoleonic got his run via the emergency list. Fifteen ran in the end, and the form lines that had been doing the rounds all week pivoted on the new shape. Jimmysstar, the $3.50 Maher-trained favourite who had been backed from $4.50 in the build-up after his 1300m third in the Archer at Rockhampton, settled handy enough but had nothing left at the 200m. Punters who held him were not alone. The Group 1 was the third leg of the BRC Winter Carnival and the wet bias on the Doomben track has now produced an upset for two years running.
Rothfire and the Heathcote Stayer Tradition
The Rothesay gelding ran second to Sunshine In Paris in last year's edition off a Heavy 8 surface, and back-to-back placings in the race had him sent out at $61 on what was a kinder Soft. At age eight he was nobody's idea of the winner, but the wet form line and the leader-friendly track gave him every chance. Heathcote rates him a wet tracker who needed a freshen, and the run profile fit the form. Brad Rawiller, who has the metro book at his disposal but rides Heathcote runners to a tee, eased the gelding off the rail mid-race, came outside Spicy Martini in the straight and held off the Edmonds runner by a length. Napoleonic was further back in third for James McDonald, the Charlton three-year-old running a brave race at the weights and earning his Stradbroke ticket. The Hawkes-trained Beadman, also a three-year-old, ran fourth.
Where the Markets Land
Stradbroke Handicap markets shifted hard on the back of the result. Napoleonic firmed into single figures across our reviewed bookmakers dabble, Ladbrokes and Picklebet for the 14 June Group 1, with Charlton's three-race plan now back on track. Beadman, the other three-year-old who hit the line, has come in alongside. Jimmysstar drifts hard, the Maher camp now needing another path through the carnival. Doomben Cup Day acceptances are out for next Saturday's Group 1 1350m, with Half Yours, the Hollindale winner, the early favourite. The race was the headline of a six-Group day at Doomben that also saw Boomtowns salute for Tony Gollan in the Spirit of Boom Classic. Full Doomben card and sectional times via Racing Queensland.