Weekend Racing Recap – Saturday 13th June
Arguably the biggest day in Queensland racing is Stradbroke Handicap Day, and Saturday 13th June 2026 was a day that jockey Taylor Marshall will never forget as he bought up his first Group 1 victorty in Queensland biggest race the Stradbroke Handicap. The son of racing royalty, John Marshall, who himself won two Stradbroke Handicaps and a Melbourne Cup on Rogan Josh, Taylor wrote himself into Group 1 history with an exceptional ride on the brave mare Spicy Martini. On Heavy 9 ground, the lightly raced four-year-old mare Spicy Martini jumped well enough and she got the perfect run in behind the speed. Marshall elected to stay back on the inside once balanced-up and she drove through to set-up what proved a winning margin from the 200m and held off the fast finishing Sepals ($31) with Von Hauke ($41) filling third spot.
The win of Spicy Martini gave local trainer Toby Edmonds his second Stradnbroke Handicap winner. The last time the 60yo won this race was back in 2020 when Tyzone was victorious. The run of Fangirl on unsuitable ground to run a gallant 4th was enormous while the crowd favourite and Doomben 10000 winner Rothfire weakened back to near the rear.
The other Group 1 on the program was for the two-year-olds in the J.J.Atkins Stakes. It became another triumph for the all-conquering James McDonald/Cris Waller combination when the odds-on favourite Tron Bolt weaved a passage from the 200m and burst clear holding off the late challenge of a gallant Cormier ($11) with another Waller runner Stormy Marco ($14) running into third spot back inside.
The win gave the Kiwi born James McDonald his 17th Group 1 winner for the season and that broke the record of Malcolm Johnston’s record of the number of Group 1’s in a season. That record had stood since 1980 !!
Although both James McDonald and Chris Waller are yet to win a Stradbroke Handicap in their careers, the J.J.Atkins Stakes has been a happy hunting ground for Chris Waller as Tron Bolt gave him his fourth win in the event after Pressday (2010), Press Statement (2015) and The Autumn Sun (2018) had all won this race. James McDonald was successful on Broadsiding (2024) for James Cummings.
Another highlight of the weekend racing was the riding performance of William Pike at Belmont (WA) on Saturday. Pike rode in spectacular fashion riding four winners from the eight races and continues his domination of Western Australian jockey ranks.