Gunsynd Classic

Winners and Past Results.

The Gunsynd Classic is a Brisbane Racing Club Group 3 Australian horse race for horses aged three years old run at set weights. FREE $200 Bet

The race is held at Eagle Farm Racecourse in Brisbane in honour of Gunsynd, a champion miler in the 1970s with $125,000 in prize money up for grabs. The event was known as the Doomben Classic until 2009. The Gunsynd Classic is held on the first day of the winter racing carnival which is why many horses may come in from a spell, making it tough for punters to pick a winner. The Group 2 Sir Byrne Hart Stakes is also scheduled on the same day.

In form local gallopers usually tackle the mile under set weight conditions which favours the better performers. A few horses from down south may also head down to Doomben for the event.

Among the other events that horses may fancy their chances later in the season are the Group 3 Rough Habit Plate at the same track over a distance of 2000 metres and the 2200 M Group 3 Grand Prix Stakes also run on the same track in May. Fillydelphia, although unplaced in the 2011 Gunsynd Classic, won the Rough Habit Plate in her next outing and finished fourth in the Grand Prix Stakes.

Among the notable winners to score a Gunsynd Classic/Rough Habit Plate double include Marble Halls in 1997, Bob's Boy in 2003, and Belmonte in 2006. 2011 Gunsynd Classic winner, Chateau Fort, won a BM60 mile race and a maiden event at Scone in NSW, prior to winning this race.

One of the major events that horses entering the Gunsynd Classic may have their eye on is the Group 1 Queensland Derby where top quality gallopers are stretched over 2400 metres in June. The Group 2 Queensland Guineas at Eagle Farm later in the season is another event that horses may favour their chances.

The Gunsynd Classic was first held as a listed race between 1990 and 1996. In 1997 it was granted Group 3 status and has remained so since then. Among the notable winners in recent times include Tobruk in 1999, Galroof in 2002, Saxon in 2005, Reigning To Win in 2007, and Pepperwood in 2008.

2012 Gunsynd Classic

Trump started well enough and was positioned midfield while Vacallo and Voodoo Magic made the running up front. As the field settled, Vacallo was travelling keenly, opening up a decent margin from the rest of the field, with Trump and Brambles moving forward to be a couple of lengths behind the leader. The field bunched as they rounded the turn into the straight, and as Vacallo faded Trump, Brambles and Goldslick emerged as the main contenders. Goldslick took the lead with 200 metres to go but Trump was full of running, coming through the middle to eventually overtake Goldslick and win by a neck, while Brambles was two lengths back in third.

2012 Gunsynd Classic result

1. Trump
2. Goldslick
3. Brambles

Then came:

4. Quintessential
5. Jack's Back
6. O'Grady
7. Arctic
8. Peppered Black
9. Vortex
10. No More Bull
11. Denwood
12. Outback Grande
13. Retune
14. Vacallo
15. Slysera
16. Noisy Ocean
17. Voodoo Black Magic