3 minute read
The Race History of The Roses run at Eagle Farm on Saturday centres around one filly.
Ethereal began her charge to greatness here. Could another filly kick off that trek in the 2020 The Roses (1800m) at Eagle Farm on Saturday?
2020 THE ROSES - RACE HISTORY AND BACKGROUND
The Roses is a Group 2 race for three-year-old fillies conducted by the Brisbane Racing Club.
The Roses was introduced in 1996 and is run under set weights conditions over a distance of 2000m at Doomben as the major Brisbane lead-up race to the Queensland Oaks. It used to be known as the Doomben Roses.
However only three fillies have won the Doomben Roses-Queensland Oaks double – Ethereal (2001), Scarlett Lady (2011) and Youngstar (2018). Ethereal went on to win the Caulfield and Melbourne Cup double the following spring.
The Roses was run over 1625m in 1996 and 1615m in 1997. From 1998-2011 the distance was 2020m, 2000m from 2012-2014, 2020m in 2015 and back to 2000m in 2016. It was at 1800m in 2020 and at Eagle Farm.
The Roses was a Listed race from 1996 to 2002 and Group 3 from 2003 to 2016. It was run as a Group 2 for the first time in 2017.
New Zealanders Roger James and Graeme Rogerson have each trained two Doomben Roses winners. Greg Childs, Darren Beadman and John Allen are jockeys to win the race twice.
The 2020 Roses was run for prizemoney of $175,000 – reduced due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Notable winners of The Roses include Melora, Episode, Ethereal, The Jewel, Cinque Cento, Gaze, Heavenly Glow, Scarlett Lady, Invest, Dear Demi, Arabian Gold, Bohemian Lily and Youngstar.
The 2019 Roses was won by Etana from Aliferous and Welsh Legend.