Top Sydney trainer Annabel Archibald will be eyeing a fifth straight Hollindale Stakes success this Saturday

News.com.au

05-05-2025

Top Sydney trainer Annabel Archibald has marvelled at the depth of this year's Queensland Winter Carnival as she prepares her star duo Fawkner Park and Bois D'argent for the Group 2 Hollindale Stakes on the Gold Coast on Saturday.
The newly married Archibald and her co-trainer and husband Rob kicked off the winter carnival in style last Saturday, winning both Group 2 races at Eagle Farm in the Queensland Guineas (1600m) with Depth of Character and then the Victory Stakes (1200m) with roughie Libertad.
Now Archibald turns her attention to winning the $500,000 Hollindale Stakes (1800m) for the fifth straight year after taking out last year's major with Numerian and before that dominant 2021 Doomben Cup champion Zaaki won it three times in a row under James McDonald.
Archibald said Ethan Brown would ride six-year-old gelding Fawkner Park and Josh Parr would likely be on grey warhorse Bois D'argent in the Hollindale.
'Fawkner Park, he's obviously racing really well this preparation against elite company,' Archibald said.
'It's still going to be a good race but it'll probably be a bit easier than the Queen Elizabeth (at Randwick on April 12 when he finished eighth, almost six lengths behind Via Sistina).
'We know he likes Queensland and we're looking forward to getting him up here.'
The Chris Waller-trained Buckaroo heads the early market for the Hollindale Stakes at a short $2.80, ahead of Fawkner Park ($4.50) and Queensland gelding Antino ($5).
Waller said he planned to field four runners - Buckaroo, Lindermann ($6), Osipenko ($8) and Militarize ($15) - in the 1800m feature on Saturday.
Archibald said this winter carnival was shaping to be much stronger than previous years.
'Buckaroo is heading up to the Hollindale and he's a Caulfield Cup runner-up and he won the Underwood Stakes (at Caulfield last September),' she said.
'He's a proper horse. We're starting to see these really good horses stay on longer into their campaigns and then head up here.
'It's been a good springboard for the top horses. Fawkner Park ran well here, we've had Zaaki up here in previous years, Without A Fight, Incentivise.
'It's been a happy hunting ground for horses to go on and be at the elite level in Sydney and Melbourne afterwards.
'I think the depth in the middle-distance staying races is getting stronger with more and more people importing those well-credentialed horses from overseas.'
Fawkner Park finished third in last year's Group 1 Doomben Cup (2000m), behind winning stablemate Bois D'argent, before jagging the Group 2 Q22 (2200m) three weeks later at Eagle Farm ahead of subsequent Melbourne Cup champion Knight's Choice.
Waller said last year's Melbourne Cup favourite Buckaroo, which placed ninth in the race that stops a nation, would headline a 'strong hand' for his Hollindale Stakes aspirations.
'It seems to fit in pretty well with a few of our horses,' he said.
' Buckaroo is a good example. We gave him a bit more time after he ran in the Melbourne Cup so his first-up run was the George Ryder (ninth of 11 runners), second-up the Queen Elizabeth (seventh of 13) and now third-up for the Hollindale.
'He's a pretty good horse and looks well placed I would think.
'It'll be a length easier than some of the horses he's been going up against but in saying that, I haven't seen the field yet.'