Winter Carnival News

THE GLEN BOSS ROAD SHOW MOVES TO BRISBANE

THE Glen Boss carnival road show rolled into Brisbane on Saturday with the homegrown riding hero continuing his amazing run of success in the $200,000 Greenslopes Private Hospital Queensland Guineas.

Boss, who rode five Group One winners during the Sydney autumn carnival, launched his northern assault on the Gai Waterhouse-trained Winning Belle in the G2 three-year-old classic.

Taking up where he left off after winning the Stradbroke-Brisbane Cup G1 double on Private Steer and Pentastic last winter, Boss read the heavy track at Eagle Farm perfectly.

But he was quick to steer the spotlight to Waterhouse after Winning Belle scored a length and a quarter win over another Sydneysider, Toulouse Lautrec, with Little Punc flying the flag for the locals in third place.

Waterhouse, Australia’s first lady of the turf, emulated the training skills of her legendary father, the late T J Smith, producing Winning Belle to score first-up in Group company at her first start for more than a year.

“Only Gai could do it,” Boss said. “They just don’t do this sort of thing in the modern day. She’s turned this horse out an absolute treat.”

Waterhouse watched the win on TV at Rosehill. “She’s a class act. She showed that as a two-year-old. Horses don’t normally do what she did.

“She was first-up for over a year but she was ready for it. And she beat a very good horse, which adds further merit to the win.”

Boss, who won the Melbourne Cup on Maykebe Diva, admitted begging Waterhouse for the Winning Belle mount. “Her work at home had been top shelf and she was given a searching trial before the Guineas,” he said.

“Nevertheless, it was 12 months between runs. She was on a heavy track and resuming over 1600m. There was a lot stacked against her.”

The win was an early Mother’s Day present for Boss’s mum, Lorraine, who was at the track and had $10 each-way on the filly. She is his biggest fan and launched his career path as a pony club rider in Gympie when he was still at school.

Winning Belle, a lightly-raced daughter of Zabeel, was bred by Pencarrow Stud out of their McGinty mare, Kirin Belle. She was purchased by Waterhouse at the Karaka Sales in New Zealand for $NZ280,000.

She is raced by Glenvallen Investments Syndicate, managed by Hong Kong-based owner, F L Li, who has three horses trained by Waterhouse.

Winning Belle will have her next start in the G3 Doomben Roses on May 22 en route to her main winter mission, the Joe Richards Menswear G1 Queensland Oaks at Eagle Farm on June 5.

QUEENSLANDERS CLAIM ONLY WORDS AS THEIR OWN

QUEENSLAND-owned filly, Only Words, emerged as an even shorter priced favourite for the G1 Carlton Draught Doomben 10,000 on May 22 after her impressive win in Saturday’s Byrne Hart Stakes at Eagle Farm.

Trained by John Hawkes in Sydney, Only Words is raced by John Barnes and his partner, Joy Mackay, who own the famed Canning Downs Stud on the Darling Downs.

They purchased Only Words, a winner at six of her seven starts, for $130,000 at the Sydney Easter Yearling Sales and have recently rejected an American offer of $1 million for the daughter of End Sweep.

Only Words landed her third G2 success in the Byrne Hart after taking out the Surround Stakes and Par Lap Stakes during the Sydney autumn carnival.

Ridden by Rod Quinn, she ploughed through the heavy going to score by almost three lengths from Our Egyptian Raine with Defier a distant third.

Only Words is now a $4 favourite for the 10,000 ahead of Thorn Park $5.50, Gallieni at $7 and Our Egyptian Raine at $9. She is also at the head of the markets for next month’s AAMI Stradbroke, with only 50kg.

Mr Barnes and Ms Mackay also race the Peter Moody-trained Royal Mask, which came from last for an eye-catching fourth in the Guineas.

The Royal Academy filly is out of Duk Duk, a Canning Downs mare that traces back to the grand-dam of six-time G1 winner, Tails, one of the flag-bearers of the stud that has been in the Barnes family since 1917.

“The stud has been around since about 1840. My grandfather bought it in 1917 and since then we have been very fortunate,” Mr Barnes said. “My father, who was Minister for Territories when Robert Menzies was Prime Minister, died in 1998.

“He got Dalray from New Zealand to stand here and then raced Tails. After originally telling me not to have anything to do with racehorses, he ended up saying before he died to keep the stud and the horses going.”

In 1998, Mr Barnes and Ms Mackay decided to rebuild Canning Downs to its former glory. “We actually live in Sydney and spend four or five months of the year at the stud,” Mr Barnes said. “We race about 10 horses with John Hawkes and Peter Moody training them.

“We have no stallions, just concentrate on breeding with mares and fillies. We are close enough to the Hunter Valley that we can take down a mare, get her served at one of the studs by a stallion we chose and then take her home the next day to Canning Downs.”

Hawkes attributes the emergence of Only Words as the newest star of his stable to her versatility. “She’s a filly that performs at her best on wet or dry tracks. It’s a big advantage,” he said.

“She has always shown the potential to be a Group One performer. You never know until they show it on the track and she is starting to show us she is up to it.”

VICTORIAN COULD BACK UP IN HOLLINDALE STAKES

VICTORIAN mudlark, Out of Options, could back up in next weekend’s Group 2 Hollindale Stakes at the Gold Coast if he recovers quickly from Saturday’s Listed win at Eagle Farm.

Trainer Bob Beecroft closely monitors the five-year-old son of Starcraft because of his history of leg and back problems.

Out of Options maintained his unbeaten record on heavy tracks and landed some good bets, running on strongly to overhaul the Toowoomba trained pair Wishart and Kenconcarne.

That win in Saturday’s Smith and Nephew Stakes, formerly the Ramsay Health Care Handicap, earnt Out of Options ballot and penalty-free entry into the Treasury Casino Brisbane Cup over 3200m on June 14.

“He has had leg and back problems but if he has taken no harm from Saturday’s run then I might back him up in the Holindale,” Beecroft said. “If not there’s a race after that at Doomben.”

QUEENSLAND Racing web news: May 10 – John Lingard.

Glen Boss guides the Gai Waterhouse trained Winning Belle to victory in the Queensland Guineas at Eagle Farm on Saturday.

Queensland-owned filly Only Words (Rod Quinn) wins Saturday’s Sir Byrne Hart Stakes at Eagle Farm.

Victorian Out of Options winning the Listed Smith and Nephew Stakes at Eagle Farm on Saturday.

(Noel Pascoe photos)