Gateway-winning owner Chris Wessel gives new Stradbroke slot idea the thumbs up
A dramatic slot revamp of The Gateway to allow greater flexibility with the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap has received strong support from a major owner.
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Owner Chris Wessel has revealed he wouldn’t have raced 2022 The Gateway winner Tick Tock Queen in this year’s Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap had the race’s funky new slot component been in action back then.
The conditions of The Gateway – which offers a golden ticket into the Stradbroke the following year – have been revamped since Tick Tock Queen won The Gateway as a $71 chance last year.
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Tick Tock Queen scored a golden ticket into the Stradbroke, keeping out Tony Gollan stablemate Antino who would have been one of the favourites had he secured a Stradbroke start.
Tick Tock Queen was never going to be a winning hope in the 2023 Stradbroke, although she ran credibly when finishing eighth as a $101 chance.
Tick Tock Queen races in Wessel’s Archer Park Racing colours and those colours will be seen again in The Gateway at Eagle Farm on Saturday with Gollan galloper Count Da Beans ($9.50).
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The $300,000 Gateway is raced over 1400m and is restricted to four-year-olds.
Wessel said he fully supports the new conditions of The Gateway and indicated it would be unlikely that Count Da Beans would race in the 2024 Stradbroke even if he won on Saturday.
“I reckon this (slot component) is the right concept,” Wessel said.
“Put it this way, you are going to be struggling at this time of year to produce a quality four-year-old that is Group 1 standard.
It’s a BOILOVER in The Gateway!
— RaceQ (@RaceQLD) December 10, 2022
The @tonygollan-trained TICK TOCK QUEEN blows up the tote board to snare his place in the 2023 Straddie!
What a ride KWT 🔥@tonygollan @Kyle27287002 #MagicalMoments#QLDisRacing🇠pic.twitter.com/WyrQG91tb2
“So you can win the race, but the likelihood of you going on to win a Stradbroke is very slim.
“For Count Da Beans, for example, he would want to lift quite a few notches to warrant him running in the Stradbroke.
“Now you have got more flexibility. You might have something else coming through.
“Maybe one of our other horses could be borderline of getting a start in the Stradbroke, and now you can get them in and you don’t have to go through all the qualifying races which spend a lot of your petrol.”
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Wessel feels Tick Tock Queen over achieved with her finish in the 2023 Stradbroke, beaten less than 4½ lengths by star Joe Pride sprinter and future The Everest winner Think About It.
Had the new slot conditions been in play last year when Tick Tock Queen won The Gateway, she wouldn’t have been seen in the Stradbroke.
“We would have sold the slot and run another horse in it (the Stradbroke), for sure,” Wessel said.
“It gives you that option.
“If you haven’t got one that’s good enough for a Stradbroke, you can now go and sell the slot or put another horse in the Stradbroke.”
Wessel feels Count Da Beans – one of Gollan’s seven runners in the Gateway – will run a good race.
But he was hoping for a rain-affected track for the gelding to show his best.
“If we had a bit of cut in the ground, we would have been fairly confident,” Wessel said.
“He will try his hardest, but his preferred surface is soft ground.”
Originally published as Gateway-winning owner Chris Wessel gives new Stradbroke slot idea the thumbs up
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