Search on for next Queensland poster horse

The strength of the Queensland breeding industry will be on shown this Saturday night with the running of the QBRED Triad finals for three and four-year-olds.

Queensland has produced some of the sport’s brightest stars in the last two decades including the likes of Blacks A Fake, Fleur De Lil and Colt Thirty One. Now the search is on for the next Maroon poster child.

With two $100,000 features for the three-year-old pacing divisions, the barrier draws conducted on Tuesday created plenty of intrigue.

Manilla Playboy will be searching for his second career Group 1 when he starts from the front row in the colts and geldings division. Trained by Shane Fraser and now driven by his new reinsman Shane Graham, the trio have combined for back-to-back victories in the last month.

His main rivals in defending Triad champion Big Wheels and New South Wales visitor Justalittle Bit have both been cursed by second line draws, which now makes their takes infinitely tougher.

When it comes to the fillies Group 1 event, on paper, the barrier draw has made the race.

The clash between Jasper and Talent To Spare has been well anticipated since they clashed throughout their juvenile campaigns. Whilst Jasper appeared to be a more well-rounded filly at two, Talent To Spare has returned in superb fashion, blazing through four victories and a second at her last five starts.

Listed features for the four-year-olds and two-year-olds will also be hotly contested by some classy pacers.

Grant Dixon will once again play an important part in all 10 races on the card with a representation of 24 runners on a night that he has dominated many times in the past.

‘The Creek’ is building towards an enormous TAB Constellations Carnival and will no doubt host a decent crowd tomorrow night, in conjunction with NRL Magic Round taking place five minutes down the road at Suncorp Stadium. In a correlation of the two sports, leading trainer Chantal Turpin’s brother Jake will captain the Brisbane Broncos tonight, whilst she will look for Group 1 success with Big Wheels and Typhoon Torque tomorrow.

If you can’t make it on track tomorrow night, never fear, as Sky Racing Active will showcase all the action on track with Cassie Fahey, Chris Barsby and myself.

The proposed Harness Racing Australia stallion levy has continued to cause rumblings across Australia and New Zealand this week.

The 15% ‘tax’ will be implemented on service fees from stallions which originate from outside of Australia, which of course encompasses American shuttle stallions, those based in New Zealand as well as Europe with frozen semen.

The issue of colonial stallions not receiving sufficient support has certainly created chatter in the past, however I don’t believe anyone saw something quite so significant on the radar.

This levy will be imposed on the stallion owners on receipt of a 45-day positive pregnancy test, however it would be foolish to assume this would not also have an effect on the broodmare owner.

In a year of positivity for the breeding industry, one integral part of the industry that has not experienced such an upswing in a very long time has achieved just that. So why do we now decide to implement a levy which will undoubtedly undo all this positive progress?

An enormous part of our harness racing eco system are studs who rely on shuttling stallions to provide to the Australian industry, then pour many of this revenue back into the game in sponsorships and support.

This levy will either break them, or break breeders. It’s as simple as that – whoever wears the brunt of this tax will have an immense struggle on their hands.

Shouldn’t we want to entice our industry to be the best and breed to the best?

Shouldn’t breeders have the freedom to choose who they wish to send their mares to, without having to consider a significant tariff on most of their options?

This levy is estimated to deliver $2 million dollars annually back to the industry each year, which I am sure no one is complaining about, but surely there must be a better way to raise revenue then taxing our own participants so significantly.

We are robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Globe Derby will host South Australia’s lone Group 1 event for this season tomorrow night.

The Allwood Final for two-year-olds has been dominated by Emma Stewart, and this year’s edition looks to be no different.

2019 saw Pandering prove far too good, whereas Treachery made it a one filly affair last year.

Encipher looks to be the one to beat in this year’s edition after a tough fought heat victory, at just her first start last week.

In a stirring battle over the last lap, Encipher managed to narrowly nose out a brave Dougs Diva in the significantly quicker second heat, spacing their rivals by over 50 metres.

Kate Gath will make her way ‘home’ to South Australia this weekend in search of another Group 1 driving victory for her resume.

Best bet of the weekend – R5 N6 Albion Park Manilla Playboy

Value bet of the weekend – R7 N8 Albion Park Aunty Bella

By Brittany Graham for Sky Racing