The stars of Queensland harness racing are set to shine at Albion Park on Saturday night as Group 1 QStars light up The Creek.
Hot on the heals of another highly successful TAB Queensland Constellations, the QStars evening will feature four $100,000 Group 1 features. They are:
- 2YO QBRED Fillies TRIAD;
- 2YO QBRED Colts & Geldings TRIAD;
- 3YO QBRED Fillies TRIAD; and
- 3YO QBRED Colts & Geldings TRIAD.
The 4YO QBRED Mares TRIAD and the 4YO QBRED Colts & Entires TRIAD will also be staged on the night.
RQ CEO Brendan Parnell said the QStars evening makes for the perfect encore following this year’s TAB Queensland Constellations.
“QBRED continues to set the standard as the nation’s premier breeding incentive scheme for standardbreds,” Mr Parnell said.
“With the recent move of seasons to coincide with the calendar year, the TRIADs are perfectly suited to this spot on the calendar, and will ensure the night is a true celebration of the QBRED scheme.
“The programming changes that led to the QStars had been developed following valued industry feedback, and provides the perfect platform to showcase the highly vaunted QBRED scheme.”
Qualifiers for both iterations of the two and three-year-old races were staged at The Creek over the last week, with some of Queensland’s star juveniles now confirmed to take their place in search of Group 1 glory.
The 2YO Fillies division is headlined by the inclusion of three-time Group 1 winner Jewel Melody, who at her most recent start last month took out the $156,000 Brisbane APG Sales Graduates 2YO Final.
Meanwhile, a number of black-type winners, including Hold Onto Ya Bling and My Ultimate Jacko, lead the market for the 2YO Colts & Geldings.
The 3YO races are littered with black-type credentialed pacers, with recent South East Oaks champion Racy Roxy widely tipped to add a maiden Group 1 to her already impressive CV.
Dangerzone and Teddy Disco will tackle the 3YO QBRED Colts & Geldings TRIAD on the back of impressive winter form, while Captain Shuffles – a dominant heat winner last week – has been installed as current race favourite.
As part of the new-look program, a number of innovations to the field selection process for the 2YO and 3YO TRIAD Finals were introduced for the first time in 2022.
In each series, the top-four ranked horses, based on recent performance and prize money, were progressed directly through to the Finals, and were not eligible to contest the heats.
QBRED offers more than $3.5 million in prize money and bonuses with record-breaking returns in 2022, including the ‘first-win’ bonus rising to $14,000.
Click here for more information about QBRED.