Queensland Oaks Barrier Draw Stats & Info
Queensland Oaks Tips & Preview 2022
Looking for Queensland Oaks (2200m) tips and best bets? We dissect times and form to find the winner of the 2022 Queensland Oaks at Eagle Farm.
Queensland Oaks Betting Snapshot
Gold Bracelet (1800m) runner-up Gypsy Goddess ($4.40 with Palmerbet) and last start winner Aravene ($4.60) are favourites for the race while Barb Raider ($8) and Belle Savoir ($9.50) are the only other runners under double figures. Honeycreeper has placed in six of seven runs this campaign, including two wins, and she represents great each-way value at $15 and $4.40.
How will the Speed Map impact the race?
Not a lot of early speed in the 2022 Queensland Oaks and that may play a crucial part in finding the winner. Last start Hawkesbury winner Nyota looks the likely leader but will need another scratching before gaining a start as the second emergency. Barb Raider and Gin Martini are the only other runners with natural and consistent early speed, and having drawn gates 11 and 10 respectively, they have little option but to come across and sit right up on the speed. Festival Dancer is likely to balance up behind the speed and every other runner has midfield to backmarker written all over them.
Queensland Oaks Form Analysis
This is Gin Martini’s tenth run this campaign and she surely doesn’t have any upside and it’s hard to see her turning the tables on Barb Raider who just outgunned her late over 2100m in The Roses at Eagle Farm. The lack of speed in this race gives Barb Raider an advantage over the horses that competed in The Roses and you have to admire the way Barb Raider digs in for a fight.
Honeycreeper and Mokulua recorded the strongest last start benchmark (BM) figures going 9.4 and 8.7 lengths quicker than standard but Honeycreeper did it on a Heavy 10 over 2400m at Randwick and Mokulua did it over 1400m on a Good 4 at Eagle Farm. The concern with those figures is Honeycreeper is a supreme stayer and may find some of these a bit too brilliant over the shorter trip on a dry surface, while Mokulua’s performances over longer trips rate 10 to 20 lengths slower.
Teranga is next best having gone 5.7 and 6.4 lengths quicker than standard at her last two over 1600m, and she clearly has some upside with the Queensland Oaks being her fifth career run. Chris Waller’s Savagal made good ground late in that race and is at 150/1 but looks unlikely to get a run being 4th emergency.
Aravene was ultra-impressive winning over 2000m at Rosehill where she came from well back, made a long, wide, sustained run around the field and put them away early in the straight before being eased down. She has a real sense of timing about her and will have no trouble seeing out the 2200m. She’s drawn beautifully in barrier 6 and has Brett Prebble aboard. Brebble has ridden 17 times for trainer Caroline Jennings for five wins at a strike rate of 29.4%. Her performance also rated fifth best for the entire meeting – a classy effort considering she outperformed the older horses in the Lord Mayors Cup (2000m).
Gypsy Goddess also commands respect, but two of her last three performances have rated extremely low and she’ll need a ton of luck from the outside gate in a big field.
Queensland Oaks Tips & Best Bet
Barb Raider surely takes some catching if she can control the speed here, but I can’t go past the last start effort of Aravene and she has that sense of timing and the right trainer/jockey combo as well as the ideal gate. With the lack of pace in this race, she can afford to sit a bit closer to the speed and likely drops in three to four pairs back on the outside. From there, Prebble can build momentum before the bend and her brilliant turn of foot should be enough to see her break Barb Raider’s heart in the straight.
