The Group 2 A.D. Hollindale Stakes will take pride of place at the Gold Coast on Saturday.
The race has belonged to trainer Annabel Archibald (formally Neasham) for an incredible four years in a row … courtesy of her superstar performer Zaaki in 2021, 2022 and 2023 and Numerian in 2024.
Neasham now trains in partnership with her husband Rob Archibald and last Saturday they owned Eagle Farm, taking out the two main features on the opening day of the Queensland Winter Carnival, winning the Queensland Guineas with Depth Of Character and the Victory Stake with Libertad (a $71 chance no less) … both Group 2 races.
Such is the on-going weight of this powerful stable, that a fifth straight win in the Hollindale, in which the Annabel and Rob Archibald stable will fire a triple-barrel salvo at the opposition, is a very real possibility.
Fawkner Park, Bois D’Argent and Port Lockroy are the three Archibald runners in the Hollindale.
The grey Bois D’Argent finished third at this meeting last year, in the Gold Coast Cup, on his way to a super win in the Group 1 Doomben Cup in which his stable companion Fawkner Park finished in a close-up third place.
Fawkner Park reversed that result in their very next start when both of these runners contested the Group 2 Q22 … Fawkner Park coming home the winner with Bois D’Argent filling third place.
These two results yet again highlighted the positive, feature race success ratio that the camp enjoys with their Queensland runners and it is no surprise to see both of these horses back for another crack at Queensland Winter Carnival glory.
Fawkner Park comes into the Hollindale with strong credentials.
The six-year-old son of Zoffany has been bold in his last three starts, all in Group 1 company. In all of those races Fawkner was faced with the daunting task of tackling the now eight-time Group 1 winner Via Sistina on each occasion.
There was no cigar there, but Fawkner Park’s fourth place (when just 1.58 lengths behind Via Sistina in the Verry Elleegant when carrying 2kg more than the winner), and his third place (when two lengths behind Via Sistina in the Ranvet when again carrying 2kg more than the mare) speaks volumes for Fawkner Park’s inherent ability.
That form adds a real sparkle to the Hollindale.
Bois D’Argent is now an eight-year-old which, at first glance, might have some questioning the level of threat he can pose to his younger rivals.
Glance again.
To quote a well-used saying, ‘winning form is good form,’ and that is exactly what Bois D’Argent will bring to the table as a last start winner of the Group 3 JRA Plate at Randwick.
Not the Group 1 form of Fawkner Park … sure … but Bois D-Argent’s return to winning form might just have arrived at the right time and a return to Queensland, where he thrived last year, could just give him an added push in the right direction.
Port Lockroy is unplaced in three starts this preparation, but the ‘Beware’ sign can also go up behind the Better Than Ready four-year-old when it is noted that one of those unplaced runs was behind Stefi Magnetica in the $4 million Doncaster Mile where he finished only 1.25 lengths behind the winner.
Adding value to Port Lockroy’s form-line is the fact that, like Bois D’Argent, Port Lockroy has a Group 1 win behind his name having claimed the Railway Stakes at Ascot in November.
Throw in the current stable form and you clearly have three genuine contenders here chasing the major share of the Hollindale prize-money.
Bois D’Argent will be ridden by Joshua Parr from a favourable number three barrier draw while Fawkner Park will be ridden by Ethan Brown, who will have to negotiate a path from the extreme outside barrier (fourteen out of fourteen).
Port Lockroy will be ridden by Martin Harley, who will have fond memories of the Gold Coast track having won the $3 million Magic Millions Guineas aboard Abounding back in January 2024. Port Lockroy will jump from barrier number 8.
The race favourite with online betting sites is the Chris Waller trained Buckaroo.
