Stakes racing was held at both the Sunshine Coast and Rosehill Gardens on Saturday which saw the completion of the Queensland winter carnival.
Flamboyer scored his first stakes success when taking out the Listed Glasshouse Handicap (1400m) at the Sunshine Coast following some very consistent recent form in easier company.
Settling up on the speed with Jeff Lloyd on board, Flamboyer proved too strong for his rivals over the final stages, with Saluter in second and Stratum Star back in third.
Flamboyer returned a career peak Timeform figure of 109, six pounds above his win at Eagle Farm two starts back with the Racing and Sports field strength (RSFS) of 110.3 slightly above standard for a listed race.
The Kelly Doughty-trained runner measures up well to recent winners of the race, returning the same figure as 2015 winner Riva De Lago and 2013 winner Someday, only two pounds below Alma’s Fury in 2014.
Of the beaten brigade Saluter ran up to his previous effort of 105, achieved when running second in Group 3 company two runs back behind Into The Red over 1200m.
Favourite of the race Stratum Star was unable to carry the 61kg to victory and ran to 116 with the big weight, equalling 2011 winner Woorim who carried 58.5kg to win.
Tivaci scored his first win of the preparation when claiming victory in the Group 3 Sunshine Coast Guineas (1600m) after settling off the pace from barrier 2.
Winning by just over a length with High Spirit in second and Sold For Song third, the Michael Moroney-trained runner ran up to his previous best of 108, achieved when returning with a fourth behind Counterattack in the Group 3 Fred Best Classic.
Tivaci is the highest rated colt or gelding to win the race since Fifteen Carat in 2010 (108) but still below that of 2015 winner Winx who ran to 107 before the fillies claim.
High Spirit in second returned a Timeform figure of 105, one pound below his fourth in the Group 2 Queensland Guineas with Sold For Song running three pounds below the 102 she ran to when winning the Listed Daybreak Lover.
Amexed caused somewhat of an upset when winning the Listed Caloundra Cup (2400m), coming from midfield to claim a one and a quarter length victory over Jumbo Prince in second with All Clear third.
The Tony Gollan-trained runner who was coming off a last start win in a Benchmark 80 Handicap at Ipswich ran to a clear new peak Timeform figure of 103, his highest since running fifth in the Group 1 Queensland Derby last year (104).
Amexed has not run anything close to Saturday’s figure in some time now returning a figure of 91 when winning at Ipswich two back.
Running well below that of 2015 winner Index linked (116), Amexed returned the same figure as Brayroan in 2014 with the RSFS of 103.4 considerably below par for a listed race and the 109.4 last year.
Jumbo Prince returned a Timeform figure of 104, two pounds below his second placing behind Maurus in the Ipswich Cup with third placegetter All Clear running to a new peak of 99.
All of Maurus, Puccini and Index Linked ran considerably below par with both Maurus and Index Linked having to come from well back on the turn.
Rosehill played host to two stakes races which saw Ninth Legion take out the Listed Civic Stakes (1350m) by a narrow margin over Better Not Blue in second with Vergara third.
The Peter Robl-trained runner returned a Timeform figure of 116, his highest since running second in the Prime Minister’s Cup at the Gold Coast last year and is the highest rated winner of the race since Mic Mac in 2013 who also ran to 116.
Better Not Blue ran to a new career peak of 104 in second with Vergara running to 103, only one pound below her previous best.
The RSFS of 110.4 is on par with a Group 3 race and well above that of 106.5 of 2015.
Tucanchoo continued his good recent form when winning the Listed Winter Cup (2400m) having finished a close second in the Group 3 Tatt’s Cup (2200m) the start prior.
Settling up on the speed and proving too strong for Junoob in second with Foreign Prince well back in third, the Team Hawkes-trained runner ran to a new career peak of 103, three pounds above his effort in the Tatt’s Cup.
Tucanchoo is the lowest rated winner since Niwot in 2009 (101) with the RSFS of 107.7 slightly below Par for a listed race.
Junoob with the big weight of 61kg returned a figure of 116 and Foreign Prince well below his previous best returned a Timeform figure of 99.
