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Improvisation was the key to another successful TAB Queensland Racing Carnival after torrential rain ruled out any races at Doomben for the first time in living memory.
That meant Eagle Farm was the centre of attention for Brisbane racegoers, as it hosted all eight Group 1 races, including the Group 1 Doomben Cup and Group 1 Doomben 10,000.
The weather may have proved problematic for Doomben, but it did not dampen the enthusiasm of racegoers, with thousands pouring through gates at Eagle Farm, the Gold Coast, Ipswich and the Sunshine Coast.
Staged over 10 action-packed race days, the carnival boasted prize money in excess of $21 million and featured more than 50 black-type races, including eight Group 1s, 10 Group 2s and 13 Group 3s.
There were success stories aplenty, with three Group 1 victories by Queensland-based horses compared to one in 2021.
We recap the highlights of another carnival to remember.
Oaks winner Gypsy Goddess is up there with trainer's best
Seasoned Sunshine Coast trainer David Vandyke called Gypsy Goddess Group 1 Queensland Oaks victory, the highlight of his career.
Ridden by Willie Pike, Gypsy Goddess scored by a length from Victorian raider Barb Raider, with Le Villi a further half-length away third in the 2200-metre race.
She had put the writing on the board after running second in the Group 1 Australian Oaks (2400m) in April before returning to Queensland to finish second at the Gold Coast over 1800m on a heavy track in the Listed Bracelet.
"That was just amazing," Vandyke said after her Oaks win.
"The love and care that has gone into her over the last seven-and-a-half months, since she won her maiden, to keep her up, it's just been an amazing period of time.
"We were just focussed on getting this girl to the best possible place, and to finish that with a Group 1 is a career highlight."
The Sunshine Coast-based trainer has had several high-class gallopers, including Yankee Rose which won the Group 1 Spring Champion Stakes and was third in the Group 1 Cox Plate at Moonee Valley.
"This is my career highlight with this girl to see her wrap up a field of quality fillies like that, at Group 1 level in our home state, that'll do me," he said.
Startantes ends carnival on a high for Queensland
It was one of the feel-good moments of the carnival.
Startantes not only claimed her maiden major win in the Sky Racing Tattersall's Tiara over 1400 metres, but also clinched a third G1 crown for Queensland-trained horses.
Having come agonisingly close in the Group 1 Flight Stakes (1600m) and Group 1 Surround Stakes (1400m) against her own age and sex, Startantes produced a withering final burst to run down Snapdancer in the straight who had kicked for home after settling outside the leader.
Trainer Rob Heathcote was thrilled to finally see one of his stable stars break through, referring to the filly as 'a very special little pumpkin'.
"We've known she was special for a long way through, and she went that close in the Surround in Sydney, she had no luck. We made a big call taking Taylor off and putting Jason on, but he was last coming into the straight, kept his cool and ran right through them," Heathcote said.
Jockey Jason Collett, who rode the mare to a 0.1L defeat in the Surround Stakes, was blown away by the feel Startantes gave him compared to in Sydney.
"The feeling I got when I pushed the button, I thought it was pretty good at Randwick when I just missed, but today it was unbelievable. Her turn of foot is electric," Collett said.
Apache Chase graduates to G1 level
Apache Chase was the graduate of 2022 when he not only won the Group 1 Kingsford Smith Cup but delivered Desleigh Forster Group 1 success.
A year ago, Apache Chase won the Fred Best at Eagle Farm, his second Group 3 at the track in five months.
This time around, though, the four-year-old gelding stamped as a class racehorse and one of three locally trained gallopers to capture a Group 1 victory this winter.
Taken straight to the front by jockey Jim Byrne, Apache Chase held firm up the straight to claim the 1300m race by a short head from Paulele with Eleven a head away third.
Prior to Apache Chase saluting, Forster had started 22 runners at Group 1 level for two placings, both with I'm Belucci during the 2015/16 season.
"All I said to J Byrne was 'don't go slow', use his speed, use his gate, dig him and send him, get to the three (300m) and let him go," Forster said after the race.
"If they are good enough to run past him, they are good enough, but if they are not, too bad.
"They weren't a hope, they just left him in front, and he just walked."
Mudlark shows Doomben 10,000 his Everest
Rain may have played havoc with Doomben, with the rich Group 1 race being transferred to Eagle Farm, but the sound of rain all week was music to the ears of interstate raiders Peter and Paul Snowden.
The Sydney-based trainers had punters elect and renowned mudlark Mazu for the $1 million event over 1200m.
It had won three consecutive races, all black-type events on heavy tracks, including the Group 2 Arrowfield at Randwick before lining up in the Doomben 10,000 as the $3.30 favourite.
However, Mazu did not have it his own way, despite, settling fourth and looming as the likely winner at the 200-metre mark.
Jockey Sam Clipperton was vigorously riding the three-year-old gelding which beat Paulele, ridden by James McDonald, in a pulsating head-bobbing finish, with Kiwi mare Entriviere third.
Unlike punters who may have been concerned when Paulele challenged Mazu, who will race in The Everest at Randwick in October, Paul Snowden was relatively calm.
"He does hit that flat spot but that ability to absorb the pressure and still be strong at the end - that is why we have got a slot in the Everest and that is why we are going to be there," Paul said.
"He's had a very good preparation let me tell you. A lot of work has gone into him. It's really good."
For Clipperton, it was his third Group One win and broke a run of 14 second placings at the highest level since his win in the 2016 All Aged Stakes.
"He's just a star, this horse. He knows how to win, and we've got a great rapport with each other," he said.
"Even when I was concerned, he was always going to pick up and I just had to have faith in the horse and in the end, I got to the front too early, and he thinks his job is done."
Alligator Blood ends two-year drought in Stradbroke
Controversy has never been far from Alligator Blood but there was no argument about the one-time TAB Queensland Horse of the Year's win in the Group Stradbroke Handicap.
It was not only his first victory in more than two years, but it delivered Gai Waterhouse her first Stradbroke Handicap and her 150th Group 1 win.
While he is no longer trained in Queensland, his background as a Sunshine State star during 2019/2020, made him the unofficial fourth local to win a Group 1 during The TAB Queensland Racing Carnival.
It was the Alligator Blood of old, the horse camping off a solid speed and spearing to the front for a memorable win, said Waterhouse-Bott stable representative Neil Paine.
"As has been well documented over the last year or two, the horse has had problems but Gai and Adrian, the staff back at Randwick and also in Brisbane, have worked overtime to get this horse right," Paine said.
"We're just rapt that we've got him, and he's come back to his best.
"It's just incredible Gai and Adrian could get him back to where he is."
In the lead-up to the race, hoop Tim Clark made a special trip to Brisbane to partner Alligator Blood in a trackwork gallop and declared the horse was spot-on.
"I haven't had a lot to do with the horse's career but that was a pretty special performance."
Back-to-back Hollindale's for Zaaki
It was Hollindale Stakes Day last year when Zaaki announced himself as a star of the turf and he backed it up with another superb win in a race that is deserving of Group 1 status.
The now three-time Group 1 winner was dominant in 2021 but this time had to fight for victory, with the Chris Waller pair of Polly Grey and Kukeracha filling the placings just three-quarters of a length and 1.25 lengths, respectively, off the winner.
Ridden by James Macdonald, Zaaki was urged to lead the field, with boom horse Ayrton sent forward from a wide gate to sit outside the $1.45 favourite.
Ayrton quickly came under pressure rounding the turn, but Zaaki had to dig deep to record his eighth win in Australia, although trainer Annabel Neesham was wary of how fresh Zaaki was pre-race.
"This is the freshest he's been," she said.
"He had a bit of a bronc with James (McDonald) when he got down on the track and then my only worry is I've I left him too fresh and is he going to travel too strongly.
"For a moment there, I thought the second two horses were coming thick and fast and credit to them, they kept him very honest all the way to the line.
McDonald, who has ridden the horse for five wins, knew the challenge of getting Zaaki to relax.
"I knew the hardest part of it was going to be getting on him and getting to the barriers. He's such a quirky bugger," McDonald said.
The Hollindale Stakes has now rated above Group 1 level for two consecutive years.
