 Brett Davis | |
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| Brett Davis was introduced to Australian Racing by his father back in the early 1980’s when his family became involved in formulating “Thoroughbred Racing Syndications”. Brett worked from 1995 as a Professional Form Analysts and Race Broadcaster with an array of companies throughout most parts of the Australia Racing industry. He currently resides in Adelaide, his hometown in Australia, where he is Chief Thoroughbred Race Caller and Form Analyst for Tabcorp / SkyChannel / RadioTAB. Brett Davis also spent 2 years with the Singapore Turf Club and 13 Racing Seasons with the Hong Kong Jockey Club between 2006 to 2019 as a leading Form Analyst / Race Caller and was the HKJC Chief Race Caller from 2014, calling the last 5 Hong Kong International (Turf World Championships) race meetings and over 50 G1 races. Brett has immense passion for Australian Racing both personally and professionally. With his diverse knowledge and long standing industry relations he’s a valuable asset to racing and it’s enthusiasts. | |
Eagle Farm Racecourse – Track Analysis (Stradbroke Handicap & HKJC World Pool Q22):
Eagle Farm Racecourse is one of two racecourses in Brisbane and is the premier track in Queensland.
Eagle Farm is known for being the larger, more expansive of the two tracks in Brisbane. The right-handed circuit has a circumference of 2027m, with a home straight of 434m, a similar length to the home straight at Sha Tin.
The G1 Stradbroke Handicap is the most famous race held in Brisbane and is renowned for being a high pressure 1400m handicap run at a strong tempo and featuring a large field. The lucrative contest begins from the 1400m chute which then brings them onto the course proper along the back straight within a matter of strides. After a 400m run along the back, the runners turn off that section of the course with less than 1000m to go, before beginning to make their moves near the home turn. Once they turn into the home straight, they’ll have 400m to run before they’ll reach the winning post.
Interestingly, the barrier draw statistics shows that there’s no particularly advantageous gates to draw when it comes to the Stradbroke Handicap.
Last year’s Stradbroke Handicap was won by THINK ABOUT IT, who settled midfield and finished off powerfully to score. Runner up ROTHFIRE raced on the outside of the leader and held on gamely for second, while HAWAII FIVE OH took up a position off the pace and finished third. THINK ABOUT IT then went on to frank the Stradbroke form later in the year by taking out The Everest following his return to Sydney.
The G2 HKJC World Pool Q22 has an honour roll that includes Hong Kong superstar WERTHER as well as top recent gallopers like ZAAKI and subsequent Melbourne Cup winner WITHOUT A FIGHT. This 2200m race at Eagle Farm is very similar to a 2000m race at Sha Tin, in that the race begins from just before the winning post with only a short run to the first turn. Once the field leaves the straight on the first occasion, they’ll have 1900m to run, before entering the back of the track at the 1600m mark. Then have a long run along the back straight before heading to the side of the course with 1000m left to go, which then brings them into the home straight.
Last year’s renewal of the race was run at a genuine tempo, which was to WITHOUT A FIGHT’s liking, as he settled in the second half of the field and unleashed a strong turn of foot to win impressively. NONCONFORMIST ran on from the rear of the field to grab second, while classy mare DUAIS settled midfield and finished third.
Although WITHOUT A FIGHT won last year’s Q22 from a wide barrier, history suggests that the winner is more likely to come from an inside to middle barrier.
This weekend’s meeting is the jewel in the crown of the Queensland Winter Carnival and is the third consecutive Saturday meeting held at Eagle Farm in the month of June. The opening day of the carnival saw runners steer away from the inside part of the track and that was the pattern again at the Queensland Oaks meeting last week.
Some showers are forecast for the day before the meeting, but dry conditions are expected for race day, therefore, a good track is likely or in the worst case scenario, a good to yielding track.
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