The stage is set for a great rendition of the Group I BRC Doomben 10,000 (1200m) this Saturday and with high profile scratchings, a likely heavy track and several stallion prospects looking to up the ante making for race of intrigue.
Click here to learn more about the history of this iconic Queensland sprint.
We had a full Doomben 10,000 field of 16 lined up in 2026, but the racing gods have struck, most cruelly in the case of the Royal Ascot bound Lady Of Camelot, taken out of contention by a random stingray attack. Poor Lady isn't going anywhere and may now be retired depending on her recovery.
Ageless veteran Private Eye, roughie Abounding and G1 Blue Diamond winning colt Devil Night have also been withdrawn, allowing all three emergencies a start.
3YO colts Grafterburners, Beadman and Napoleonic are out to set up future stud careers, while 4YO entires Private Harry and Reserve Bank boast a G1 apiece but seek to build on their resumes.
The last stallion to win was Impending in 2018 and he had been runner up as a 3YO the year before, while 5YO entire Love Conquers All was beaten a head in 2011.
Colts have a much higher strike rate with Giga Kick the most recent to win in 2023 - the year before him, Mazu was victorious over Paulele and in 2013 it was a testosterone fuelled-affair when Epaulette beat 5yo entire Spirit Of Boom with another colt Better Than Ready in third.
The Doomben 10,000 honour roll boasts a number of graduates who went on to successful stud careers - winners Lord Ballina, Bel Esprit and Spirit Of Boom, placegetters General Nediym, Show A Heart and Turffontein.
Interestingly, those that finished out of the placings include supersires Snippets and Thorn Park!
Mares and fillies which win/ place have invariably gone on to considerable success at stud and in the absence of Lady Of Camelot we have Skybird and Spicy Martini aiming to join that list.
At time of writing the track is rated Heavy 8 with not much chance of an upgrade if the forecast is correct!
Top pick: JIMMYSSTAR
Jimmy is untried on heavy ground but bred to relish it, and to be finishing on strong in a race that will test the fortitude of some of these sprinters. On a dry track, 1200m is probably a bit short for Jimmy - but the way the track has deteriorated and late in the day on Saturday you are going to want a horse with some good stamina underlying its speed!
Having said that, the jury is out on whether or not the Kiwi-bred superstar has returned at his absolute sparkling best this prep (and he wasn't my top pick before some high profile scratchings) but there's no denying Jimmy is the class factor in the race and his fourth up run is generally one of his best.
After acclimatising to Oz, it wasn't long before the powerful chestnut burst onto the big sprint stage in Australia with an explosive victory in the G1 Oakleigh Plate.
The gifted son of Per Incanto had won two of his first three starts in NZ for his original trainer Guy Lowry.
A majority share in the exciting galloper was sold to a big group of clients of the Ciaron Maher stable, headed by prominent owner Ozzie Kheir.
Jimmysstar has now earned a tick over $8.5 million from 26 starts to date, which have netted him 11 wins ( 3 x G1) and 8 placings.
Jimmysstar was bred by Wairarapa couple Pete and Chrissy Algie in partnership with Little Avondale Stud, who stand his remarkable sire Per Incanto (Street Cry).
Little Avondale Stud proprietors Sam and Catriona Williams, along with the Algies, remain in the ownership of the galloper they bred from Anniesstar - a daughter of the amazing Zabeel son Zed.
Anniestar won five races including the Listed Feilding Gold Cup (2100m), while her full-brother Jacksstar was a seven-time winner up to G2 level and also placed in the G1 Auckland Cup (3200m).
Jimmysstar’s second dam is Star Guest by the champion racehorse and sire Pentire, who frequently passed on a brilliant turn of foot to his progeny, who performed over all distances.
Jimmy's classy female line is Argentinian-bred and descends through the G1 winning mare Love's Hope, who goes back to the great Argentine foundation mare Ante Diem (by Carbine's sire Musket) exported from GB in 1884.
She became the ancestress of at least 19 Argentinian Classic winners, including the 1931 Triple Crown legend Mineral. Hers is a branch of family 9-g which is one of several families descending from Maid Of Masham (9-e) the most successful being the prolific 9-f tribe.
The very first US Triple Crown winner (before it was officially called such) in 1919, Sir Barton, had Ante Diem's half sister as his fourth dam.
Jimmy’s dam Anniesstar produced four foals, three of them winners, including his full sister Charms Star (G3 Manawatu Breeder’ Stakes, runner-up G1 New Zealand Oaks and G1 QLD Oaks)
The mare produced a full brother to Jimmysstar in 2022 who was offered on behalf of Little Avondale by Riverside Stables and sold for $260,000 to Group 1 Bloodstock (FBAA) at Inglis Easter in 2024.
Named In'kantosstar and also trained by Ciaron Maher, he has placed at his only start to date. He was the last foal from Anniesstar, who sadly died while in foal to Per Incanto in 2024.
From modest beginnings as an Italian-raced G3 winning sprinter with a service fee set at $4000, Per Incanto has risen to great heights.
The son of Street Cry from the stakes winning Indian Ridge mare Pappa Reale keeps up a stream of elite performers and is also the damsire of the fastest horse on the planet, Ka Ying Rising!
Jimmysstar is bred
Northern Dancer 5m x 5m
Sir Ivor 5f x 5m sex balanced
Notably Street Cry and Pentire share the same ancestress in far removes, the matriarch Illuminata (family 1-l)
An outstanding feature of Jimmy's pedigree is sex balanced linebreeding to Klairon - tail male ancestor of Per Incanto's damsire Indian Ridge, and damsire of both Star Way and Zed's ancestress Klairessa, dam of Eight Carat - carried by his dam Anniestar.
He is linebred to Blue Hens and three quarter sisters Natalma and Cosmah, and sex balanced to another in Boudoir through her son Your Host and daughter Flower Bowl.
This pedigree boasts duplications of the sires Petition, Alibhai, Never Bend, Hail To Reason, Grey Sovereign and of mighty War Relic, who was bred 3m x 3m to Blue Hen Fairy Gold - her fourth dam was Maid Of Masham, Jimmysstar's own ancestress.
Big Jimmy and Ethan Brown will be looking to power over the top of them late, and they will launch from barrier 8 after scratchings.
Next best: PRIVATE HARRY
There was a time when everyone was just wild about Harry.
Now, Doomben 10,000 day really is “D- Day” for Harry, at one time the most hyped colt in Australia.
He was the virtually unbackable pre-post Everest favourite, the biggest Yulong headline, the greatest thing since baled hay etc etc.
Things haven't quite gone according to plan for the now four year old son of Harry Angel. There were injury hiccups. There were jockey changes. There were trainer changes. He still hasn't won a race since the G1 Galaxy of March last year.
Private Harry badly needs another major to justify the $$$ invested and the high profile slot on the Yulong roster that has his name on it. Chances are high that this might be his final racetrack appearance, will it be a bang or a whimper?
Surely, we can forgive his unplaced first up run after a long lay off, when on a testing track at Eagle Farm.
Although that was on a heavy track, the first he had seen - horses can go quite differently on Eagle Farm heavy vs Doomben heavy, this is my observation - and Private Harry is certainly bred to handle wet ground.
There have been a couple of lameness issues after races on firmer tracks, his soft track record is flawless, he’s going to be vastly improved second up, and I’m still a believer in the G1 chops of this beautiful son of Harry Angel - and also in the genius of Chris Waller!
Private Harry’s original group of owners including trainer Nathan Doyle, were high fiving after they'd clubbed together to shell out a mere $115,00 for the Inglis Classic colt, only to watch him rocket through the grades and become an undefeated G1 winning sprinter after just five starts.
Yulong were onto Harry like a heat seeking missile and put forth the winning bid, securing 50% of the glamour youngster for a lazy $8 million. He was the first horse locked into a 2025 Everest slot - but things went awry and he wasn't there on the day.
Private Harry doesn’t have a pedigree page chockers with black type like some of his rivals here, but it is an interesting one.
Bred by Rheinwood Pastoral Co, he was the fourth foal and third winner out of the winning Congrats mare Happy Pilgrim.
Private Harry has an unraced half brother by Anders named Lance Corporal yet to race, a two year old half sister by Captivant named Lady Lieutenant and a yearling half brother by Zousain.
Happy Pilgrim missed her next cover by Harry Angel but is now back in foal to him again.
The AP Indy son Congrats, a G3 winner in the USA, briefly shuttled to Australia but made little impact. He has however proved to be an excellent and G1 producing broodmare sire, as are many stallions of his family - that of the famed La Troienne.
Private Harry's grand dam Pilgrim by Danehill was a prolific producer.
Her daughter Paredo ( Better Than Ready) is dam of this season's G2 Todman Stakes winning colt Paradoxium ( Extreme Choice) - her first foal. She has fillies by Zoustar and I Am Invincible on the ground, and is back in foal to Zoustar.
Another daughter, the stakes placed Snipzu ( Snippetson) is dam of young sire Don Corleone, also by Extreme Choice, and three year old filly Champere ( Written Tycoon) a winner and placed from just three starts.
Snipzu's yearling is a filly by Ole Kirk and she was served by Doubtland for her next foal.
Paredo's unraced full sister Gypsy Isle is producing foals to the likes of Stay Inside, Ole Kirk and Home Affairs and was successfully covered by Extreme Choice, so there is every likelihood that Private Harry's immediate family will receive some high profile upgrades over the next few seasons which will be so important to his fledgling stud career.
His third dam Briscay ( Marscay) produced to the NZ stamina source Myocard two stakes winning sprinters! She was a full sister to G1 Ranvet hero Arkady and this family descends from a Linacre daughter Manganui, grand dam of the 1933 Doomben Newmarket (10,000) winner Hamurah.
Private Harry's damline traces to Miss Roland, also ancestress of the great Australian sire Imposing, and is a branch of family 1-c ( Mustard) to which also belong the great broodmare sire Spearmint ( carried by Nearco and by sons of his Blue Hen Plucky Liege) and the influential Firdaussi, and each of these sources of the blood is a strong presence in Harry Angel's pedigree.
Private Harry is bred
Mr Prospector 5m x 4f sex balanced
Danzig 6m x 4m
Northern Dancer 6m x 5f,5m sex balanced
Blue Hen focus:
La Troienne - she appears via Buckpasser, Mr Busher and their relative Will Somers carried by Harry Angel - the latter is his broodmare sireline of Balidar so particularly important.
Mr Busher's full sisters Busher and Striking are carried by Seattle Slew while Congrats descends from her daughter Big Hurry and carries Buckpasser, Danehill brings yet another line of Buckpasser, Marscay provides her son Bimelech via Better Self.
Frizette - ancestress of Seattle Slew and his second damsire Jet Pilot as well as Mr Prospector and Tourbillon ( sex balanced and duplicated through sons of Djebel including family member Djeddah)
Almahmoud - Danehill, Machiavellian and Halo reinforced by relation Spectacular Bid and two Mahmoud daughters in Harry Angel's third dam Cheese Soup.
Somethingroyal - Secretariat daughters loom large through their sons Chief's Crown and AP Indy, Grand Lodge chips in with Sir Gaylord via Habitat and Seattle Slew sex balances with a daughter. Other Princequillo mares feature strongly in Harry Angel's pedigree, making lines to son Round Table carried by Private Harry's dam extra important.
Woodbine / Violet family 8-c - as the ancestress of Faubourg ( sex balanced to Alcantara, himself inbred to the tribe) Valais and Linacre who all sit on the damline of Private Harry this is a major aspect of his pedigree not obvious at first glance!
Faubourg's line of this mare through Violet is also that to which belongs the Blue Hen Schiaparelli. She is ancestress of Waajib's damsire Sassafras, Shantung the damsire of Young Generation, Portlaw carried by Ahonoora and is from the tribe of Harry Angel's fifth damsire Umbrella Fella.
Flower Bowl - her son Graustark sired the Blue Hen Glowing Tribute, third dam of Congrats, and his full brother His Majesty is damsire of Danehill. This is an upgrading nick for many lines of other 4 family individuals in Harry Angel and ties in with linebreeding to To Market ( duplicated via daughters in Spectacular Bid, also damsire of Marscay )
From his low gate, Private Harry needs to jump well, race tractably for new rider Tommy Berry and conserve energy. If he can do that ( assuming his heavy track flop was fitness related, which is what I'm somewhat precariously hanging my hat on!) he should get his chance to prove the doubters wrong.
Harry and Tommy will be jumping out of gate 2 after scratchings.
Roughie: ZARASTRO
Local warrior Zarastro is freshened for this, but I like that for him coming in off three strong trials at his third run of the preparation.
He will lead or be right on pace and he may prove hard to run down especially in the wet!
Tony Gollan's seven year old son of I Am Invincible loves Doomben and has placed both tries at this track / trip.
However, the absolute highlight of his career to date was his narrow defeat to champion Joliestar in the G1 WFA Kingsford Smith Cup over 1300m at Eagle Farm this time last year, where he just failed to hold her off on a soft track. Behind them were the likes of Giga Kick and Benedetta so it was a genuine G1 field and with the scratching of several of the more fancied runners in this, I reckon Zarastro gets a real shot at claiming that G1 he just missed.
Bred by Fairway Thoroughbreds and consigned by Segenhoe Stud, Zarastro started life in the fast lane when he was a $1.5 million yearling purchase at the 2020 Magic Millions for Chris Waller and Guy Mulcaster.
There were high expectations for the blueblooded colt, but he didn’t meet them and in 2022 he found himself on Inglis Digital as a gelding looking for a new home.
Tony Gollan pounced, securing the son of champion sire I Am Invincible for just $32,500, so here’s another in an increasingly long line of major bargains bought through that online platform!
Finding QLD to his liking, Zarastro zoomed through the grades and scored his first stakes win when he took the Listed Tatts Recognition Stakes at Doomben on a soft track in brilliant fashion by three and a half lengths, to the delight of his new ownership group comprised of Gollan stable clients.
He followed that up with another Listed win in The Falvelon, and has since won the G3 Healy Stakes, placed in the G2 Aurie's Star at Flemington to the G1 placed mare Right To Party, bolted in the $1 million Magic Millions Snippets on the Gold Coast and unleashed that brilliant run at G1 level in the Kingsford Smith among other stakes placings.
Now a veteran of 32 starts for 9 wins, 7 placings and more than $1.5 million in prizemoney, the gutsy and gifted seven year old has more than obliterated the disappointment of those early days. He's an absolute ripper.
Zarastro was the first foal from Zabeel’s G2 Light Fingers winning daughter Adrift,
In 2022 Adrift produced another Vinnie, a colt who is yet to race, then missed to Extreme Choice before producing her latest foal in 2024 - a daughter by the late Wootton Bassett who has been named Anchored.
Adrift is now expecting to Harry Angel.
She was one of two stakes winners from her dam Stray ( Tale Of The Cat), the other being the Karaka Million winner Xiong Feng ( Iffraaj). Bred by Sir Patrick and Lady Hogan, Stray was a prolific producer of 13 named foals. Adrift has two winning full sisters at stud and a number of half sisters, one of whom Marvey's Belt, produced the G1 winning mare Entriviere (Tavistock) who placed in the Doomben 10,000 of 2022 on a heavy track.
She is now owned by Yulong and has a yearling colt by Zoustar, her first foal. Another half sister owned by Yulong is Diamond ( Fastnet Rock) dam of a filly by So You Think and a colt by Russian Revolution. One last half sister Inchaarj ( Iffraaj) has a yearling colt by Home Affairs and was returned to him.
Stray's dam Shynzi ( Danzig) hit the genetic jackpot when she produced the G1 Cox Plate / Yalumba / CF Orr Stakes winner Maldivian to Zabeel, making Zarastro's grand dam Stray a three quarter sister to that great galloper.
This high class North American family descends from G1 producer Indian Call ( Warfare) with an unbroken line of stakes producers going back to Durazna, by Bull Lea from Myrtlewood ( 13-c), and thus a three quarter sister to the ancestress of Mr Prospector and Seattle Slew.
The queen Myrtlewood visited the mighty Queenslander Bernborough when he was sold to stand at stud in the USA, and the result was a good colt named Bernwood, who left no issue. What a shame she didn't foal a filly!
Zarastro is bred
Danzig 4m x 4f sex balanced
Northern Dancer 5m x 5m,6m,5m
Sir Ivor 5f x 4m sex balanced
He is sex balanced to the great Princequillo son Round Table via Sir Tristram and Artaius ( the Zabeel cross that produced Might And Power!) and to Round Table's sister Monarchy, ancestress of Tale Of The Cat.
Danzig's duplication obviously boosts the influence of I Am Invincible and his sire Green Desert with intense linebreeding to his family.
Zarastro is also linebred to My Babu and his half brother Sayani, their relative Turn-To, and to Raise A Native, his sire Native Dancer, grandsire Polynesian, and more.
Two of Zarastro's three unplaced runs on heavy tracks were on absolute heavy 10 bogs, I think he's fine on it unless we get into that range! He's got the speed/stamina combo to excel on a slower track.
Zarastro has Daniel Moor aboard for the first time and they will launch from barrier 4 after scratchings.
Blowout: SKYBIRD
This big five year old daughter of Exosphere has any amount of talent, but she’s a hard horse to follow being one of those that is prone to bad luck in running, injury dramas and all things that can get a horse beat.
But when she’s on song, the beautifully named Skybird really does take flight and she is glorious to watch. Could this be her moment to claim her second G1 win? She must have a wet track to be a chance and she will get that wish fulfilled.
Second up on a soft 7 at Randwick she was an eye catching third in the TJ Smith to Joliestar then a complete flop in The
Sangster on a firm track in Adelaide. She's just a different horse in the wet.
Last spring she was the one who went to the line untested in the G1 Moir Stakes bursting with running on a track with some give, but couldn't come on on the Good 3 in The Manikato and pulled up lame. The highlight of her career to date was that explosive G1 WFA triumph in the Lightning at a very damp Flemington
Another thing Skybird needs is galloping room, so I see her wide gate here working to her advantage, and she has been competitive up to a mile so covering a little bit of ground won’t hurt - just keep her out of trouble!
Still so lightly raced for her age, Skybird is a veteran of just 17 starts for 5 wins and 4 placings. Her career earnings stand at more than $1.5 million.
Skybird was a $110,000 Freedman Racing purchase at the 2022 Inglis Classic Highway Session from the draft of HP Thoroughbreds, and races for a small group of clients of the Mitchell Freedman stable.
Her sire, Lonhro's excellent G1 Golden Rose winner Exosphere, bore strong resemblance to his Golden Slipper winning broodmare sire Danzero and was an enormous horse.
The imposing Skybird is very much her father's daughter in looks.
She remains the only G1 winner by her short lived sire, who proved himself a reliable source of exceedingly fast horses.
She's one of a number of stakeswinners as broodmare sire for Fastnet Rock's G1 Newmarket winning son Wanted, who was also a G1 runner up in the William Reid and just missed the placings in a Manikato Stakes.
Skybird's damline is all too familiar when it comes to elite speed.
Her dam Real Desire was a winning daughter of the Waajib mare Forest Finch. Waajib was a great sprinter, but passed on a slower maturing kind of speed than our more precocious Golden Slipper types.
Real Desire has only four named foals, all raced and all winners with Skybird her only black type earner. She has moved into the most elite harems now, with her 2024 colt by Pierro and 2025 filly by Home Affairs yet to be named, and an I Am Invincible baby on board.
She was the only filly to breed on from Forest Finch, a half sister to the dam of mighty breedshaper Snitzel and his excellent half brother Hinchinbrook, Snitzel’s full sister Viennese (and her Champion Two Year Old Filly Arcaded), Epsom winner Redeiner, and the incredible multimillionaire Private Eye who was scratched from this race but is still powering on at eight years of age!
Skybird is bred
Danehill 4m x 4m
Northern Dancer x 5m,5m
Her damline from Storm Bird's Blue Hen Snow Finch nicks with Marscay’s American lines to Bull Lea and Co with the double of Danehill boosting that affinity.
Exosphere's damline goes back to the mare Faramoude and her daughter Flora Dora, a full sister to the dam of Roan Rocket - best known to us as the broodmare sire of Rory's Jester.
Exosphere carries three male lines to the Epsom Derby winner Blue Peter, two coming through Danzero.
Skybird's damsire Fastnet Rock descends from a Blue Peter daughter and has a line to him as a damsire through Princely Gift.
Storm Bird brings more Fairway and duplications of Precipitation - his sons Summertime and Supreme Court sired Lonhro's ancestress Sweet Time and Octagonal's fourth dam Courtessa respectively.
Skybird's second damsire Waajib is from the family of the stallion Alibhai carried by Danehill, and bred on the same Ribot cross.
Skybird is linebred to the Blue Hens Loved One, Grey Flight, Sunshot and La Troienne.
The burst of acceleration this mare is capable of producing can propel her over the top of them here - if all the stars align.
Skybird and her best mate Johnny Allen will fly from barrier 14 after scratchings.
