Cover image courtesy of Brisbane Racing Club
For any racing carnival, momentum is not built by accident. It starts with owners and trainers wanting to be there, punters trusting what they are betting on, and racegoers feeling there is a reason to come back.
Queensland’s 2026 Winter Carnival has ticked plenty of those boxes. TTR spoke to Brisbane Racing Club CEO Karl DeKroo and Ipswich Turf Club CEO Nathan Exelby about why this might be the case.
Spicy Martini winning the G1 Stradbroke Handicap | Image courtesy of Inglis
At a time when field sizes are under pressure in parts of the country, the major Brisbane races have stood out for the opposite reason. The G1 Stradbroke H., won by Spicy Martini (Justify {USA}), drew a capacity field of 18, with another five on the ballot. The same was true of the G1 Queensland Oaks and G1 Queensland Derby, while the G1 Kingsford-Smith Cup attracted a full field of 16, with five more waiting for a run.
The G1 Doomben 10,000 drew 15 runners after scratchings, leaving only the G1 JJ Atkins Plate and G1 Doomben Cup short of capacity among the carnival’s Group 1s. Even then, the broader picture was hard to miss: Queensland’s winter feature races had depth, competition and, crucially, confidence behind them.
DeKroo said the carnival’s strength is partly its long-established place in the national calendar.
Karl DeKroo | Image courtesy of Brisbane Racing Club
“We are quite fortunate that this carnival has established itself over a long period of time, not just for the quality of our races in their own right but also with the flow on effect that we see in the spring,” DeKroo said.
“It's become a tried and true method for the big stables. If you want to succeed in spring, then you race in Brisbane and Queensland in winter. We’ve seen that trajectory with Half Yours last year winning the Melbourne Cup but that stands true across many instances.”
Locals willing to have a go
The same pattern has flowed through to Ipswich, where Saturday’s Listed Ipswich Cup meeting has drawn strong numbers across its feature races.
The Ipswich Cup attracted a field of 15, while the Listed Eye Liner S. had a full field of 16 plus emergencies, and the Listed Gai Waterhouse Classic had another five horses on the ballot.
Ipswich Turf Club CEO Nathan Exelby said the acceptances were a significant result for the club.
“We were thrilled when 160 acceptances came through on Wednesday,” Exelby said.
“It’s a terrific result with mass emergencies for the Eye Liner and the Gai Waterhouse. Staying races can be problematic and there’s a heavy schedule of staying races in the Brisbane Carnival, so it can be hit and miss for the Cup. To end up with 15 final acceptances for the Cup is a very pleasing result.
He also pointed to a trait that has helped the carnival hold up: Queensland stables are not simply making way for the interstate horses.
“My observation on that would be that the locals here are prepared to have a go. They aren’t scared off by those southern trainers who bring the better horses, but the locals are prepared to have a throw at the stumps to take them on. Maybe that's the Queensland spirit.
“Certainly the local stables want to be part of their carnival and they target it with their better horses and maybe that's got something to do with how well the field sizes have stacked up.”
Tracks people trust
For DeKroo, the base of the whole product is simple: the tracks have to race fairly.
“If you get the racing product right, that's a really important start. I think the surfaces that we put out for each of our Group 1 days were first rate and a lot of that comes from preparation. There was a lot of work done in advance, with coring, sanding, clearing drainage, and that was particularly important this year as we had an unseasonably wet period,” he said.
That preparation was tested. Eagle Farm received 50 millimetres of rain in the 48 hours before Stradbroke Day, while Doomben had almost 100 millimetres in the build-up to the Doomben 10,000. Even so, DeKroo said both tracks held up.
“Eagle Farm is a sand-based track, and is renowned for its drainage, so as long as we don't get rain on race day, we're going to be okay and it's going to race well. It was a Heavy 9 on Stradbroke day as we had 50 millimetres in the 48 hours before that meeting, but I think if you speak to most of the jockeys and trainers, they would say it almost raced better than that and it certainly didn't cut out through the day.
“When you think that we were racing on that surface for three weekends in a row, the team did a really good job.
“We had almost 100 millimetres of rain in the build up to the Doomben 10,000 and that track has a different profile to Eagle Farm, which isn’t renowned for coping with the wet. To race in the soft range for that day and for the Doomben Cup was a real credit to the team.
Eagle Farm track | Image courtesy of Brisbane Racing Club
“More importantly, they raced evenly with every horse getting its chance and ultimately that’s what every racetrack aims for. If you can deliver that, you see the confidence that comes through in the wagering. And that's how everyone gets paid.”
That's the blunt commercial reality - good tracks shape wagering confidence, and wagering underpins prizemoney.
DeKroo said Doomben 10,000 day was a strong example.
“If punters don't have confidence in your product, then it's a problem for everyone. We saw on Doomben 10,000 day, wagering was over $44 million on the day. The previous record for that meeting was $42.6 million, but that was when it was held at Eagle Farm during a washout period,” he said.
“To break that record in the current economic situation that we're in was pleasing. We did have the benefit of Zac Purton coming out that day, so that definitely helped us. Zac and J-Mac won the first three races between them, so we had several things that came out in our favour, but ultimately if you don’t get your tracks right and people don’t have confidence betting on those tracks, then it doesn’t matter what else you do.”
This importance isn’t lost on the Ipswich Turf Club either.
Ipswich Cup Day crowd | Image courtesy of Ipswich Turf Club
“Our whole year revolves around Saturday. It's our one day in the sun a year, it's the one meeting a year where we get a big crowd. We run 45 meetings a year here and the majority of them are what I would describe as product meetings. Where we're doing our bit for the industry, we're generating turnover, prize money for owners, but from a commercial point of view, most of those days are losing propositions,” said Exelby.
“Ipswich Cup Day is so important on that front. We have the spotlight on us and it’s an event that the city of Ipswich has long gotten behind.” - Nathan Exelby
“Ipswich Cup Day is so important on that front. We have the spotlight on us and it’s an event that the city of Ipswich has long gotten behind. They take great pride in the race meeting, and from our perspective, it’s everything to our bottom line each year.”
Quantity is not enough
It’s long been known that bigger field sizes resulted in higher wagering. But the racing eco-system, especially for carnivals, is also about the quality of runners with black type on the line. Now that Australia has reinstated a Black Type Consulting group in the aim of regaining our Pattern Committee from the Asian Racing Federation, there’s a renewed focus for clubs and PRAs on which races will upgrade or downgrade based on quality.
“It’s not just about the size of the fields. It's the quality of the fields that's really important for us and I think we've seen that through the carnival, particularly in those sprint ranks. I don’t recall a capacity field in the Doomben 10,000 for a while and Kingsford-Smith and the like. Not only were they large fields, they were high quality fields,” said DeKroo.
Rothfire (Rothesay) won the G1 Doomben 10,000 while the G1 Kingsford-Smith went the way of Headley Grange (Exosphere). For Ipswich’s big day on Saturday, a similar focus matters.
Rothfire winning the G1 Doomben 10,000 Stakes | Image courtesy of Trackside Photography
“A lot gets said about the Ipswich Cup and the party atmosphere and this is true, but I’d also point out that our races are holding their own. Both the Waterhouse and the Eye Liner have stacked up well (form wise), and we've got another feature called the TL Cooney, a 3-year-old race, and it meets the qualifications and criteria to be elevated to Listed status. We're proud that those races are holding their own when benchmarked against the official criteria,” said Exelby.
And when it’s hard to compete with states who have more funding, there’s satisfaction in having full fields of quality horses.
“It’s important to remind people of the benefit of horses wanting to come north for winter. We can’t win prizemoney battles with New South Wales and Victoria. So the key ingredient for us is what it means for those horses who race here and how they run in their spring and even autumn campaigns,” said DeKroo.
“Stefi Magnetica bounced off a Stradbroke win and then the next season comes out and wins a Doncaster. The residual benefit of racing through this time of year is a key element for us. Even as much as horses staying for the winter to spell, I think we can’t undersell the benefit of the Queensland sun.”
Stefi Magnetica | Image courtesy of Trackside Photography
The good problem: finding boxes
That confidence has created its own challenge.
Major interstate stables now expect to be part of the carnival, but bringing horses north requires logistics, relationships and stable space.
“Ciaron Maher and Chris Waller and those guys are not going to bring teams of horses if they don't feel like they're going to get a surface that they want to race on. Both of those guys were very complimentary about the way we turned the tracks out this time around and that builds confidence (for next year),” said DeKroo.
“A lot of stables and owners look to bring their horses here over our carnival period and sometimes our biggest challenge is where to house them all, to be honest.” - Karl DeKroo
“A lot of stables and owners look to bring their horses here over our carnival period and sometimes our biggest challenge is where to house them all, to be honest. We are fortunate that our trainers, particularly at Eagle Farm, work with a lot of those interstate trainers. Ciaron Maher with Tony Gollan, Peter Moody with Desleigh Forster, and numerous other iterations. Our guys are very good at helping house horses over the carnival, and that’s reciprocated when they go south.
“It would be very difficult for us to manage without that assistance from trainers, so we are grateful for those relationships.”
Getting people back on track
The other side of the confidence equation is the public.
Racing’s broader challenges are well known: a shrinking foal crop, changing entertainment habits, pressure on discretionary spending and an ongoing need to introduce the sport to new audiences. Clubs sit at the front line of that challenge.
DeKroo said Brisbane has put more work into the spectator experience this carnival, and the results have started to show.
“This is my second carnival, and we did put a lot more effort in terms of the spectator experiences. If you count Guineas Day in that mix, four of the six days so far have beaten year-on-year marks for attendance,” said DeKroo.
“We had over 10,000 people for Stradbroke day, and it’s a number of years since we've hit that mark. I feel like that's also a sign that we're putting on a very good racing product and that's the key part, but we're also building that experience for members and patrons and participants to come and have a good time.
“I feel like that's also a sign that we're putting on a very good racing product and that's the key part, but we're also building that experience for members and patrons and participants to come and have a good time.” - Karl DeKroo
“We’re playing in the space of people's disposable income and there's not a whole lot of that around currently. We want to make sure that when people do come here, that they have a good time and they leave ready to factor in another race day in their plans down the track.”
Stradbroke Day crowd | Image courtesy of Brisbane Racing Club
The BRC has also looked beyond racing’s usual playbook.
Around NRL Magic Round, the club built a Doomben 10,000 offering aimed at football fans: a marquee, a five-hour drinks package, relaxed dress code and football on the big screens. More than 1000 people took up the offer.
“You're here for the footy, wear your supporters gear. We had the footy on the big screens, and really leaned into that. It was definitely something that resonated with people,” said DeKroo.
“I'm very big on cross promotion because I think sometimes racing can have the blinkers on a little bit and we need to look around us and see what else is happening in our area and how we can complement that. Southeast Queensland is a place that people do want to come and visit, particularly in winter, just like the horses who take benefit of some sun on their backs.
“There’s an opportunity to really market to the New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia markets and say, ‘Hey, come up for us and while you are here, watch a Lions game if you are into AFL or see the Broncos or Dolphins if you’re into NRL.’ We want to build out a weekend for people, not just focus on one race meeting. We are focused on looking at how to continue to build on those opportunities.
The club also joined the Queensland Day mega round of sport, using maroon-themed activations, cocktails and a sausage sizzle. It was not a traditional race day approach, but that was exactly the point.
“It was great to be recognised by the government and be part of it and we leaned into it. The dress code was a splash of maroon and we had maroon cocktails and a massive sausage sizzle. Maybe not a traditional race day, but people bought into it and it was a great atmosphere.”
A broader audience
Racing cannot only preach to the converted. It has to keep its core customers while also making the sport feel accessible to people who may not know the form, the trainers or the horses.
“There is definitely some momentum there. There was a period where it was not cool to be around racing or it was cool to bag racing but the wheel is turning a bit,” said DeKroo.
“Look at the attendances at the Melbourne Cup carnival and The Everest. We are starting to see a younger crowd come back to the track. It’s important to look after your current customers, the tried and true racing fans, and it’s equally important to broaden your audience.
“It can be fine dining at one end, but it can be a good drink package and a pie at the other end. We want people to see it as a great day out.
“In our business, the GA (general admission) ticket is really hard to sell. But if you can come up with a price point that feels like good value.” - Karl DeKroo
“In our business, the GA (general admission) ticket is really hard to sell. But if you can come up with a price point that feels like good value. If someone is going to buy a GA ticket, then five beers, then a pie, if you encapsulate that in a package and be in a bit nicer area, it becomes far more appealing to people.
“We’re focussing on how we engage with the younger demographic that is playing in that space.”
That might be the clearest lesson from Queensland’s winter.
The carnival’s full fields are not just a sign of good programming. They are a sign of confidence: from trainers, owners, punters and racegoers. The tracks have held up, the fields have stacked up, the wagering has responded, and clubs are finding new ways to bring people through the gates.
Queensland may not have the biggest chequebook in Australian racing, but this winter it has reminded the rest of the country there is still plenty of power in a carnival people trust.
Long may it continue.
