SCONE’S May racing carnival has cemented itself as an important stepping stone to the Brisbane winter carnival but none more so than this year.
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Twenty horses that raced over the two days at Scone went on to Brisbane with the majority of them winning or being placed in Group or Listed company.
In several cases some of those horses also won feature races in Sydney or raced creditably at the Grafton carnival.
Trainers Bjorn Baker, John O’Shea, Gerald Ryan, Peter and Paul Snowden, David Pfieffer, Fred Cowell, Grant Marshall, Chris Waller and Peter Robl all had horses that went on from Scone to success in Brisbane while the Kris Lees-trained Danish Twist won Scone’s Group Three Dark Jewel then went to Randwick and won the Listed June Stakes.
The Baker-trained Music Magante was one of the standout examples of how important the Scone carnival has come as a lead up to Brisbane.
She won the Group Three Hall Mark at Randwick in March, was given a freshen up and came to Scone to run second behind Clearly Innocent in the Listed Luskin Star Stakes before going north to win the Group One Doomben 10,000.
Close behind that effort was that of Cradle Me, trained by David Pfieffer.
She ran third in the Luskin Star before heading to Brisbane to run second in the Group Three Glenlogan Park Stakes then won the Group Two Dane Ripper.
The Gerald Ryan-trained Spill The Beans, a son of Snitzel, ran second in the Inglis Guineas then went to Eagle Farm and won the Group Two QTC Cup and was immediately retired to stand at Aquis Stud in Queensland.
Tales Of Grimm won the Scone Cup last year when trained by the now disqualified Sam Kavanagh and was later switched to Chris Waller.
The horse ran 10th in this year’s Cup then two runs later won the Listed Spear Chief at Eagle Farm.
Two other horses from the Waller stable also went to from Scone to success in Brisbane.
Amovatio ran second in the Cup before running third in the Listed Wayne Wilson and second in the Listed Spear Chief, both at Eagle Farm, while Murphy’s Delight could manage only a ninth in the Benchmark 78 (2200m) before winning the Listed Queensland Cup (3200m) two runs later.
Veteran Gosford trainer Fred Cowell, who has only a small stable, ran sixth in the Scone Cup with Mighty Lucky then took him to Brisbane to win the Group Three Lord Mayor’s Cup at Doomben.
Other trainers who horses also went on to race with success in Brisbane and elsewhere were:
John O’Shea: Malice: Third in the Scone Cup then third in the Group Three Lord Mayor’s Cup, third in the Group Three Tatts Cup and fourth in the Grafton Cup. Mogador: Fourth in the Benchmark 77 then second in the Listed Queensland Day Stakes, third in the Group Three Healy Stakes and fourth in the Grafton Ramornie. Non Pariel: Third in the Woodlands then third in the Listed Lancaster Stakes at Eagle Farm. Federal: Fourth in the Luskin Star then second in the Group Two QTC Cup.
Peter and Paul Snowden: Pajaro: Won the Scone Cup then ran second in the Group Three Lord Mayor’s Cup and second in the Listed Wayne Wilson. That’s A Good Idea: Third in the Ortensia Stakes then won at Randwick next start before running fourth in the Healy Stakes. Artistry: Fifth in the Dark Jewel then second in the Group Two Dane Ripper. Barood: Sixth in the Benchmark 77 then third in the Listed Queensland Day Stakes.
Kris Lees: Onemorezeta: Second in the Dark Jewel to her stable mate Danish Twist then fourth in the Dane Ripper and Group One Tatts Tiara. Artibai: Sixth in the Scone Cup then third in Provincial Stayers Final at Ipswich on Ipswich Cup day.
Peter Robl: Ninth Legion: Tenth in the Luskin Star then won the Listed Eye Liner at Ipswich before returning home to win two Listed races at Rosehill, the Civic Stakes and Winter Stakes. Brulee: Seventh in the Woodlands then second in the Listed Wintergarden Stakes.
Grant Marshall: Slots: Seventh in the Ortensia before finishing third in a Benchmark 95 at Doomben. Won at Canterbury last Saturday.