Roll On High gets golden ticket into Stradbroke Handicap

Roll On High will carry 49kg in the Stradbroke Handicap after she won her way into the famous race on Saturday.

Jockey Vlad Duric powers Roll On High to victory in the Group 3 Fred Best Classic to secure a spot in the Stradbroke Handicap. Picture: Grant Peters - Trackside Photography

Vlad Duric already had a Stradbroke Handicap ride, but did some canny legwork for a new contender as proud former Queenslander Peter Moody earned another shot at scoring the state’s most prestigious race.

Caulfield Cup-winning jockey Duric will ride local hope Antino in the Group 1 Stradbroke but on Saturday he rode Moody and Katherine Coleman trained three-year-old filly Roll On High to score the Group 3 Fred Best Classic at Eagle Farm.

The winner of the Fred Best scores a golden ticket into the Stradbroke and Moody is almost certain to cash in the ticket and race the filly in the Stradbroke with just 49.5kg on her back.

Moody has always held Roll On High in high esteem and at the launch of the winter carnival in April he said of Roll On High: “I genuinely think she could be a Stradbroke Handicap filly if we can qualify her.”

Big upset in the Fred Best! 😮

Shamus Award filly Roll On High is back to her best!@[e-mail]/OTKKD0WItT

— 7HorseRacing 🐎 (@7horseracing) June 1, 2024

That dream turned into reality as Roll On High stormed down the outside in the better part of the track at Eagle Farm to score the Fred Best at $16.

“I told Vlad to get out wide, unimpeded, and unleash,” Moody said.

“This filly still quickens better on top of the ground. I said six months ago to the owners when she won at Flemington, the race I would love to aim her at is the Stradbroke.

“Now she has got the golden ticket. There might be a few jockeys out there wanting to have a sweat to ride her at 49kg.”

Nothing will probably ever come close to surpassing what Moody achieved with Black Caviar, but winning the Stradbroke would come a close second for the boy from Charleville.

Moody has already won a Stradbroke with Mid Summer Music in 2012.

After winning the Fred Best, Roll On High firmed from $51 to $15 in Stradbroke betting.

Third-placed Fred Best finisher Stefi Magnetica needed to win the Fred Best to guarantee a spot in the Stradbroke but was on inferior ground on the inside and still ran well.

Duric had ridden Roll On High when the filly disappointed when finishing seventh at her previous start in the Gold Coast Guineas but the vastly experienced jockey put that down to “just a bad day for the filly.”

Duric was certain that Roll On High would be competitive in the Stradbroke.

“I produced her a bit early today, she has got an electric turn of foot,” Duric said.

“She will run very well in the Stradbroke with 49kg.”

Duric was a regular for Moody during his halcyon days before making his way to Singapore and more recently establishing himself as a riding force in Queensland.

Originally published as Roll On High gets golden ticket into Stradbroke Handicap