Peter & Paul Snowden’s surprise Doomben Cup champ Huetor is firm favourite to keep the wins coming in Brisbane on Saturday dominating markets on the popular 2022 The Q22.

Recent Rosehill winner Rosehill is one of the best in betting for Saturday’s 2022 The Q22 worth $1.2 million at Eagle Farm. Photo: Steve Hart.

Punters are in for an explosive day of racing in Queensland on the weekend with Stradbroke Handicap Day, and one of the key races on the card is the Group 2 $1.2 million The Q22 (2200m).

Heading The Q22 betting, and out to complete the same double the mighty Zaaki took out last year, is French import Huetor.

A winner of six of his 15 career starts to date, the ultra-consistent five-year-old was excellent at the Eagle Farm track last start when winning the rescheduled Group 1 Doomben Cup (2100m) in an upset.

There he beat fellow underrated chance Maximal and the beaten odds-on favourite Zaaki in good time, and he looks a huge hope again to do the double going up to 2200m on Saturday.

Jockey Kerrin McEvoy continues associations with the favourite from gate 10, Huetor sitting top of The Q22 odds at a current quote of $3.20 through Ladbrokes.com.au.

Two other runners are also at single-figures in The Q22 betting this winter with the aforementioned John O’Shea-trained Doomben Cup runner-up Maximal ($5.50) and Annabel Neasham’s last start winner Hopeful ($8.50).

Drawn wide for his rematch with Huetor, Maximal will jump from out in gate 14 with Nash Rawiller in the saddle second-up.

The four-year-old Galileo entire has just the one win from a dozen starts on his record, but he was huge late at 30/1 fresh in the Doomben Cup with improvement to come.

Hopeful meanwhile is drawn a treat with Rachel King to ride the Motivator five-year-old from barrier six.

Another former French-trained and raced international, the now Gold Coast-based galloper has had two nice runs in Australia for Neasham.

Two back he was runner-up in the Group 3 Hawkesbury Cup (1600m) at generous odds, before a last start win in the wet at Rosehill in the Listed Lord Mayor’s Cup (2000m) on May 21, and would likely appreciate a softer track to be really competitive again.

Neasham, who won last year’s race with Zaaki, also saddles-up another last start winner in The Q22 field with Numerian ($13) jumping from gate five with Tommy Berry aboard.

A six-year-old son of Holy Roman Emperor, Numerian was good on May 7 carrying 59.5kg to a nearly one length victory in the Listed Gosford Cup (2080m) ahead of Saturday’s lucrative showdown.

The early The Q22 market mover into $11 is the Chris Waller-trained Gosford Cup runner-up Great House with a wide draw (15) but plenty of supporters following an eye-catching fourth in the Doomben Cup.

Other notable hopes at slightly longer The Q22 odds after an upset include the Andrew Forsman-trained Kiwi raider The Chosen One ($12) who ran fifth in the Doomben Cup last time out, and Waller’s recent Hollindale Stakes runner-up Polly Grey ($17) looking at atone for her eighth in the same lead-up just over three lengths beaten.

The 2022 The Q22 is set to run as Eagle Farm Race 6 at 2:38pm (AEST) and full markets, courtesy of Ladbrokes.com.au, can be found here.

2022 The Q22 Final Field & Barrier Draw

Table Credit: Racing Australia.