The Queensland Spring Carnival is set to shine ahead of six weeks of feature racing commencing this week.
The Brisbane Racing Club, Tattersall’s, Toowoomba and the Gold Coast will all stage meetings throughout the Spring Carnival with features including the Weetwood Handicap and Pink Ribbon Cup coinciding with some of the Sunshine State’s biggest community events.
A double header at the Gold Coast and Doomben will once again open proceedings, headlined by the Listed Goldmarket Handicap at Aquis Park this Friday in conjunction with the Gold Coast Show Public Holiday, now worth $150,000 – up $25,000 from 2021.
On the same day, the $125,000 Gold Coast Cup – previously run at the Club’s feature Winter Carnival meeting – will take up its new position on the calendar in the spring, before racing heads up the Pacific Motorway to Doomben the following day.
The $150,000 Listed Tattersall’s Cup is also on the move, relocating from its traditional end-of-February slot to headline the Tattersall’s Racing Club meeting at Doomben on September 3, receiving a $20,000 prize money uplift in the process.
Three consecutive weeks of racing at Doomben will culminate with the return of the Doomben Mile on September 10, having seen Chris Anderson’s Ballistic Boy conquer all before him in the previous two editions.
The action heads back down the M1 on September 17 for what remains one of the highlights on the Queensland racing calendar – the Pink Ribbon Cup at the Gold Coast Turf Club.
As announced earlier this month, the 15th annual Pink Ribbon Cup – Australia’s largest official community fundraiser for the National Breast Cancer Foundation – will this year expand to a tri-code format for the first time.
Minister for Racing Grace Grace said the Queensland Spring Carnival has solidified its position as one of the state’s flagship racing events.
“Now in its third iteration, the Spring Carnival has had prize money increases to each of the Listed events on the schedule,” Ms Grace said.
“It delivers further opportunities for Queensland participants to chase important black-type racing here at home, while providing a platform for our local stars to target major spring features in the southern states.
“Further, I would like to congratulate all involved on the tri-code expansion of the Pink Ribbon Cup, and look forward to building on what is already an incredibly strong association between the National Breast Cancer Foundation and racing in Queensland.”
The famous Weetwood Handicap meeting at the Toowoomba Turf Club on September 24 will again coincide with the city’s Carnival of Flowers, which runs for the entirety of the month.
The meeting will also stage the Toowoomba Cup, Pat O’Shea Plate and the Magic Millions Garden City Guineas.
The Carnival’s black-type racing will conclude with the Listed Queensland Cup to be run at Eagle Farm on Saturday, October 8, also benefitting from a stakes increase to $150,000.
Click here to see the full programme for the 2022 Queensland Spring Carnival.
*A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the Doomben Mile was a Listed race.