Eagle Farm got the Stradbroke Season under way on Saturday with a heavy track and a Group 2 double that the form students will be poring over for a fortnight. Brave Monarch took out the Group 2 Ticketmaster Queensland Guineas (1600m) at $2.15 favourite, with Splash Back winning the Group 2 Ladbrokes Victory Stakes (1200m) for the visiting Lindsay Park-trained mare and signalling the Tattersall's Tiara is the next stop. Both winners came off solid southern form lines, both winners now have a clear path through the carnival, and both wins moved the futures markets the same Saturday night.
Brave Monarch Salutes for Munce
The Queensland Guineas went the way the punters wanted. Brave Monarch, the $23/20 favourite, settled in midfield under Martin Harley before peeling out three wide on the home turn and running them down by 1ΒΌ lengths in 1:37.13 over a soft track. Trained by the father-and-son partnership of Chris and Corey Munce, Brave Monarch was bred at Yulong, owned by Hancox Bloodstock and K M Anderson, and is a son of Brave Smash out of the imported mare Puppet Queen. Tupakara held second at 20/1 for Annabel and Rob Archibald and jockey Ashley Morgan, with the Bevan Laming-trained Call Da Vinci third at 6/1.
The State Visit story was the run of the day for the form students. Ciaron Maher's $25 chance, the second favourite Wootton Bassett colt, settled at the back of the field and never found a clear run. He finished a well-beaten 12th to register the worst placing of his preparation. State Visit ran for the Group 1 Champagne Stakes through the Sydney autumn and the trip clearly took its toll. Maher will likely freshen the colt for the Queensland Derby (2400m) on Stradbroke Day on 23 May, where the soft pattern at Eagle Farm should suit better than Saturday's heavy 8.
Splash Back Beats Five Group 1 Winners
The Victory Stakes was the Lindsay Park show. Grahame Begg's six-year-old mare Splash Back, ridden by Michael Rodd, drove past five Group 1 winners on the heavy track to take out the 1200m sprint. The mare was last seen winning the Listed Stocks Stakes at Moonee Valley in October, and Saturday's win confirmed the trip and the carnival. Connections nominated the Group 1 Tattersall's Tiara on Stradbroke Day as the obvious target. Payline ran second at $1.70 and Warnie, the Irish stayer-bred turning sprinter, third at $1.80.
The Victory Stakes traditionally serves as the Stradbroke leadup, but Splash Back's exit through the Tiara rather than the Stradbroke leaves a gap at the top of the sprinter market for any of Saturday's beaten Victory runners to backup.
Where the Markets Land
Saturday's Eagle Farm card moved both Group 1 markets. The Queensland Derby has firmed Brave Monarch from $9 to $5 with most layers, with State Visit easing from $6 to $9 after his disappointing run. The Tattersall's Tiara opens with Splash Back at $4 favourite at dabble and Picklebet, although she will need to back up in three weeks. The Doomben Cup market continues to firm around Half Yours at $2.30 for the Group 1 on 23 May, the next major Brisbane carnival fixture. Ladbrokes and Neds have refreshed all three markets through Saturday evening.
Eagle Farm hosts a Saturday metropolitan card again next week before the major Group 1 days roll through May and into June. Full Saturday results, sectional times and stewards' reports are available via Racing and Sports.