Three of the four top fancies for this Saturday’s Stradbroke Handicap have suffered an early blow drawing double-digit gates for the $1 million Eagle Farm feature.

Stradbroke Handicap favourite Beaded has drawn wide in barrier 17 for Saturday

Peter Snowden’s classy mare Beaded was the pre-draw favourite following her gallant win in the Doomben 10,000 last start, but the price on the four-year-old is likely to blow out after she came up with barrier 17 for the $1 million Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap (1400m).

The Hawkes-trained Love Conquers All, coming off three elite level second placings including behind Beaded in the 10,000, will also face a tough test on Saturday drawn one inside the favourite in barrier 16.

Dual defending Stradbroke champion Black Piranha is the best draw of the early favourites, Con Karakatsanis’ rising eight-year-old to vie for an unprecedented third straight Stradbroke success from barrier three.

One of the big winners from the Stradbroke Handicap barrier draw was former favourite Sincero.

Stephen Farley’s promising three-year-old was at the top of the Stradbroke odds prior to last Saturday having won six races on the trot.

The pressure is now off Sincero and his connections after the Umatilla gelding was a flop in the Group 2 QTC Cup (1300m) on Oaks Day, the galloper unable to come within four lengths of winner Varenna Miss when finishing 11^th.

Sincero was on the border of making the Stradbroke field but was an eleventh hour starter following the withdrawal of Varenna Miss and Torio’s Quest .

Having gone from Stradbroke favourite to a horse that top jockey Glen Boss snubbed for the Straddie ride, Wyong horseman Farley is bullish over his chances of an upset on Saturday.

“We can’t leave anything in the tank,” Farley said.

After performing well in an early morning workout today wearing blinkers, Farley expects Sincero to thrive with the gear change and was over the moon with the horse’s barrier four draw and the predicted wet weather for Brisbane on Saturday.

“He travelled very good in the blinkers,” Farley said.

“We’re very happy.

“It’s good that the pressure’s off and we can just go there and run our race.”

After Boss opted to stay in Singapore and rejected the chance to ride Sincero in the Stradbroke, Farley has engaged the services of local lightweight Queensland hoop Jason Taylor.

“I think he’ll do the job, he knows the track up here,” Farley said of Taylor.

2011 AAMI Stradbroke Handicap Final Field & Barrier Draw