$101 UK longshot is now a 2025 Stradbroke spruik horse
An X-factor horse who started his career racing as a $101 shot in England is now bound for the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap.
Without even racing in recent times, four-year-old gelding Craig has vaulted up Stradbroke betting markets to be a $15 chance to win Queensland's most prestigious race in June.
A son of Irish stallion Territories, Craig raced once in England when finishing third at $101 in Newmarket in 2023 before being purchased by Victorian trainers Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young.
Craig rose through the grades in Melbourne last winter before finishing second behind Antino in the Group 1 Toorak Handicap and then was beaten six lengths in the $10m Golden Eagle when the Rosehill track that day didn't suit him.
• PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet's team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW!
A minor bone chip injury saw him ruled out of the autumn carnival but Busuttin revealed that, as long as he trialled well next week, Craig had some big fish to fry in the Queensland winter carnival.
Craig would kick-off in the Group 3 BRC Sprint at Doomben next month before being deployed in the $3m Stradbroke, where his current rating of 103 would almost certainly see him make the field.
• Dethroned The Quokka champ set for Doomben 10,000
'The plan is the Stradbroke,' Busuttin revealed.
'He is a genuine Group 1 horse.
'We were originally thinking of going to The Goodwood (in Adelaide) with him, but now we are not going to.
'We purchased him from England, he had one start at Newmarket at 100-1 and ran third, and we didn't pay a huge amount of money for him.
'Last winter in Victoria, he won some races really well but the winter form doesn't generally stack up.
'But then he should have won a Group 3 race at Sandown and he ran second in the Toorak although he was smashed by Antino that day.
'We went up to the Golden Eagle but it was a slippery track that day and he didn't handle it at all.'
Trent Busuttin has a Stradbroke Handicap contender on his hands. Picture: Racing Photos
• Heathcote keen to test Cosmo Centaurus against Archer stars
Craig is only lightly raced, having had nine career starts.
The autumn carnival went off the table after a minor bone chip issue so now the Queensland winter is calling.
He adds significant intrigue to early Stradbroke betting markets.
'He is quite explosive and has a great turn of foot,' Busuttin said.
'It was a shame he came out of the Golden Eagle with a little chip in his fetlock, so he missed the autumn carnival because of that.
The TAB's pre-nominations market for the 2025 Stradbroke Handicap. Pictured is last year's winner Stefi Magnetica.
• Better than Black Caviar? Shane Dye's big call on The Everest favourite Ka Ying Rising
'The Stradbroke looks the logical race for him.
'I think I have only had one Stradbroke horse before and that was El Roca (13th behind Srikandi in 2015).
'El Roca went from being a boom three-year-old to having a flat tyre and he went to stud after the Straddy.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

News.com.au
28 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Jett Stanley out to make late grandad proud with Stradbroke Handicap victory
Jett Stanley reckons his late grandfather Jimmy will be smiling up in heaven if the Victorian jockey can win the Stradbroke Handicap. Stanley, 21, will fly up to Brisbane on Monday night in the hope that The Instructor can make the field for the $3m Stradbroke (1400m) at Eagle Farm on Saturday. The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott -trained gelding is currently No.29 in the ballot but has a slim chance of making the field given the attrition rate, with star horses such as Joliestar and Giga Kick to skip Queensland's most prestigious race. Stanley has only ridden in one Group 1 race, last year's The Metropolitan (2400m) at Randwick in October when he finished 14th on Immediacy, more than 10 lengths behind the winner Land Legend. 'It's what every jockey dreams about,' he said on Monday about potentially winning his first major. 'I've always wanted to win a Group 1, ever since I was a five-year-old kid and to be able to do it in the Stradbroke would be an unreal feeling. 'My late grandfather Jimmy always wanted me to win a Group 1 but he felt it had to be the Stradbroke. 'I don't know why, he never really told us, but to possibly have the opportunity is a great thrill in itself, especially for great trainers like Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott. 'Jimmy was a jockey around the Gundagai area and won metro races in Sydney. 'He'd be up there in heaven cheering me on and everyone in my family will be watching, we're a massive racing family.' Stanley's father Brent saluted in the 1996 Caulfield Cup as a teen jockey on Arctic Scent and won the race as a trainer, while Jett's mother Paris's dad Terry Millard was also a trainer. The young hoop, who started his career in Perth under trainers Grant and Alana Williams, remembers getting paid 50 cents for cleaning out a stable during school holidays at age eight. Stanley ended his apprenticeship in April when he rode The Instructor to victory in the Listed Hareeba Stakes (1200m) at Mornington. He was aboard the gelding for his third placing in the Wagga Town Plate early last month before Adam Hyeronimus steered the galloper to victory in his last start, the Listed Luskin Star Stakes at Scone on May 17. 'Quietly, I do give him a sneaky chance,' Stanley said if The Instructor happens to land a run in the Stradbroke. 'He tries his heart out for me, no matter what race he's in and I can't be happier with all the reports that I'm getting from Queensland.' Bott has his fingers crossed that his rising star The Instructor can sneak into the Stradbroke field, adamant the four-year-old is in 'career-best form'. 'He'll get a nice light weight (52kg) and he's in the right time of his career to take advantage of it,' Bott said. 'He's deep into the prep and he's holding up with career-best form. 'Coming up to a high-pressure handicap where he's got a light weight, I think that would suit really well. 'That trip (1400m) is probably right in his sweet spot where he can be most effective.'

News.com.au
4 hours ago
- News.com.au
Tony Gollan galloper Transatlantic set to have Stradbroke Handicap hopes dashed by Queensland prizemoney rule
For the third successive year, Tony Gollan is resigned to missing the Stradbroke Handicap field with a horse he felt could have given Queensland's greatest race a mighty shake. Gollan narrowly missed qualifying Antino (2023) and Freedom Rally (2024) and both of those horses instead were deployed to win the Wayne Wilson Mile on Stradbroke day. • It appears he is likely to be in the same boat with Transatlantic, who Queensland's champion trainer has long felt is a hugely talented galloper capable of making a Stradbroke mark. Bookmakers rate Transatlantic highly in Stradbroke markets, elevating the four-year-old gelding to be an $11 chance after his win in the Listed Spear Chief Handicap at Eagle Farm last Saturday. However, it appears Transatlantic is likely to miss the Stradbroke and he is stuck at No.33 in the latest ballot order and outside the final 18-horse field even accounting for the attrition rate above him in the order. There is a racing rule that means that Transatlantic wasn't able for a Stradbroke weight penalty after his win in the Spear Chief. In Queensland, the conditions are that Transatlantic was eligible to be moved up the Stradbroke ballot order but could not be re-handicapped for last Saturday's win. He could have been potentially re-handicapped if he had won a race that offered $95,000 or more to the winner – but the Spear Chief first prizemoney was $92,000. Transatlantic shows them how it's done in the Listed Spear Chief! ðŸ'° @tonygollan @RMaloney_Jockey @BrisRacingClub — SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 7, 2025 Gollan has been left disappointed as he feels Transatlantic, with Angela Jones booked to ride, could have given the Stradbroke a proper crack. But he said 'rules are rules'. • Zac on rare quest to score consecutive Stradbroke Handicaps 'Every year, a horse seems to be left out of the Stradbroke that would have made it a better race,' Gollan said. 'But at the end of the day, rules are rules and I did have 12 months to try to qualify him for the Stradbroke. 'I knew things were probably stacked against me when he didn't win The Gateway last December (which offered the winner a Stradbroke golden ticket). 'I guess even if he got a weight penalty from his win last weekend, he still wasn't a certainty to make the field.' With Transatlantic unlikely to get a run, Jones will ride three-year-old filly Spicy Martini, which qualified for the Stradbroke after winning the Fred Best Classic last Wednesday. The Stradbroke final field will be declared at 10am on Tuesday and fringe contenders will then know whether they have got a start or will be left outside the field and potentially slated as one of the five emergencies. Lindsay Park sprinter War Machine is the $2.80 Stradbroke favourite and they also have the second pick in betting, Rise At Dawn ($8) who it is intended will back-up from finishing fifth behind Joliestar in last Saturday's Group 1 Kingsford Smith Cup. Rise At Dawn is currently outside the likely field in the ballot order but there are several above him who will not be acceptors on Tuesday. On Monday, Rise At Dawn was not totally guaranteed a Stradbroke start but co-trainer Ben Hayes said there was no point worrying about it.

News.com.au
8 hours ago
- News.com.au
'One tough horse': Rothfire 'back in the game' for Stradbroke Handicap
There could be another remarkable twist to the Rothfire story with Rob Heathcote declaring his wonder horse is 'back in the game' in a race against time to line up in Saturday's Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap. Hopes had been low that the 'Thriller from Chinchilla' would recover from a foot injury in time to take his place in Queensland's most prestigious race. However, after working the Group 1 winner on Monday morning, Heathcote feels the courageous seven-year-old sprinter is now a decent chance of lining up in Saturday's $3m Stradbroke. 'He will of course have to pass the scrutiny of vets, but from what we saw this morning, he will,' Heathcote said. 'Rothfire was excellent this morning. 'He's done a lot of swimming and he still has to come through his Tuesday morning gallop well, but from what we saw this morning, nothing is beyond this warrior horse. 'He is one tough horse.' The foot injury to Rothfire, which flared after he turned back the clock for an amazing runner-up finish behind Sunshine In Paris in the Group 1 Doomben 10,000, was only ever minor. But Heathcote said last week that although the foot infection had broken, he had felt Rothfire remained only a 'slim' chance of lining up in his third Stradbroke. However there is now a growing sense of optimism. It is still far from ideal that Rothfire would be racing in a Stradbroke after missing a run in the Kingsford Smith Cup, but Heathcote said it wasn't a major issue. 'The Doomben 10,000 run was worth a week of fitness work and the swimming he has been doing has kept him up to the mark,' he said. 'His courage will fill in the cracks.' Too good J-Mac! He lifts Sunshine In Paris to victory in the Doomben 10,000 ðŸ'° @mcacajamez @ANeashamRacing — SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) May 17, 2025 Heathcote will not make a decision as to whether he accepts with Rothfire in the Stradbroke until after a Tuesday morning track work session. Rothfire's odds in the Stradbroke have blown out since he has been under an injury cloud and he is currently a $34 chance. Rothfire became a Group 1 champion in 2020 when he won the JJ Atkins in his two-year-old season. He has won close to $3.5m in prizemoney, despite suffering several major injury setbacks including a sesamoid fracture several years ago which had threatened to end his career.