One of the great aspects of racing in Australia is that every state gets their moment in the spotlight. Spring in Melbourne, Autumn in Sydney, and now the focus is on Brisbane in the Winter. After some excellent lead-up events, the carnival reaches its climax this Saturday at Eagle Farm with three Group 1 events and the time honoured Brisbane Cup.
As usual, the Laming Racing team will be active on Saturday with Face The Front in the Group 1 Queensland Derby, Ringa Ringa Rosie in the Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes and Crossthestart in the Brisbane Cup.
Although we are not represented in the $1 million Stradbroke Handicap, the race is significant to Laming Racing as we were lucky enough to win the 2005 edition with our favourite horse St. Basil.
One of the many events that are taking place this week is the inaugural 'AAMI Stradbroke Paint a Horse Competition where 24 primary schools from all over Queensland decorated a life size fibre glass horse in a theme centred around the historic race.
The Laming Racing Team supported the children at the Gumdale State School by providing paints and other materials and after seeing the end result we are extremely proud of their efforts. Their design contained paintings of previous winners including St. Basil. Congratulations to all the kids who put in hours and hours of hard work to present such a brilliant display.
The Gumdale School Principal and School Captain will be in attendance at the Stradbroke Barrier Draw on Wednesday morning with their horse and the horse will be on display at the races on Saturday. For those who are going to Eagle Farm on Saturday, make sure you set aside some time to admire their work.
