Trainer tips Queen to reign

Trainer Mike Moroney rates mare Eskimo Queen as the best of his three runners in this Saturday's $500,000 Group One Doomben Cup (2020m).

Moroney said the mare, seventh last start in the Doncaster when she was galloped on, would be the pick of his runners 'as long as it's not too firm and the track's close to dead'.

Western Australian galloper and current favourite Scenic Shot was Eskimo Queen's biggest threat on a dry track, Moroney said, while stablemate Sarrera would be the danger if wet.

With only light showers predicted for Tuesday and Wednesday ahead of fine and warm conditions from Thursday through to Saturday, the track is likely to be rated good for the Doomben Cup meeting.

"We've been watering each day just to try and keep the jar out of the ground," Brisbane Turf Club venue manager Warren Williams said.

"We'll be aiming for a good track that at the start of the day is on the worse side of good so it can withstand the weather and conditions that prevail on the day."

Should the track be firm, three-year-old Mission Critical will become Moroney's No.1 pick.

The colt has been unplaced at his past three starts, all on either dead or slow going.

"It's just been hard to get a line on him because he's a top of the ground horse," Moroney said.

Moroney said Sarrera, a surprise last-start winner of the Group One Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick, would not be suited by a firm track.

"He's always been a horse we've thought has been up to the better ones but always thought he'd want dead ground or worse to be up to the better ones," Moroney said.

While Eskimo Queen will head to the paddock after Saturday's race, Mission Critical will be aimed for the Queensland Derby and Sarrera the Brisbane Cup.