Eagle Farm stages the Ticketmaster Guineas Day on Saturday 2 May 2026, the official launch of the 2026 Queensland Winter Racing Carnival. Eight races, first jump 12:03pm AEST, gates open 10:30am. The Group 2 Queensland Guineas and the Group 2 Victory Stakes carry the day, and the BRC's Stradbroke Handicap season starts here.
Feature Race Card
| Race | Distance | Class | Prizemoney | Jump (AEST) | Top of Market |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Queensland Guineas | 1600m | G2, 3yo set weights | $350,000 | 3:33pm | Field expected race week |
| Victory Stakes | 1200m | G2, weight-for-age | $300,000 | 4:13pm | Field expected race week |
Queensland Guineas, Race 7
Group 2, 1600 metres, three-year-old set weights with colts and geldings on 57kg and fillies on 55kg. Prizemoney is $350,000. The winner picks up a ballot exemption into The Q22, which is a meaningful pull for connections plotting Stradbroke campaigns. Past winners include Private Eye, who later won the Group 1 Epsom Handicap, and Depth Of Character at $7 last year for Annabel and Rob Archibald with Noel Callow aboard on 3 May 2025. The Eagle Farm mile is a true test of three-year-olds who are starting to look like genuine carnival types. 2026 nominations had not been published as of 27 April; field expected early race week.
Victory Stakes, Race 8
Group 2, 1200 metres weight-for-age, $300,000. The 2025 winner was Libertad at $71 for the Archibald stable with Jamie Mott riding, an extraordinary boilover that summed up the unpredictability of opening-day sprint form. Past winners include Antino and Rothfire, both of whom went on to figure prominently in the carnival. The Victory Stakes opens the BRC sprint programme for sprinters targeting the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap and is one of the more reliable signposts into the rest of the carnival. Field for the 2026 edition was not yet announced at time of writing.
Track and Conditions
Top pick: Wait for the Wednesday acceptances. Anything from the Archibald yard at any quote is the first call after their 2025 Guineas-Victory double.
Value runner: Watch the Q22 nomination angle in the Guineas. Stables with Stradbroke aspirations will accept here for the ballot exemption alone.
Each-way play: Sprint maps for the Victory Stakes will set the day. Whichever runner grabs the lead off the chute is the play.