On Saturday Eagle Farm Racecourse will host the course’s first Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival Group 1 with the 2014 Queensland Oaks taking centre stage, betting tips and exotic selections for which are listed below.

This year’s $400,000 Group 1 Treasury Casino & Hotel Queensland Oaks (2400m) is set to run as Eagle Farm Race 7 at 3:40pm (AEST) and features a capacity field of three-year-old fillies.

Of the hopefuls the current favourite in Queensland Oaks betting is Arabian Gold, steady at $2.50 to secure her fourth straight win.

David Vandyke’s Sydney-trained daughter of Dubawi backed up from successive Group 3 wins at home in April when travelling to Brisbane for the Group 2 The Roses (2000m) at Doomben.

She won that race with ease and so has the ideal lead-up form, and a gun barrier one draw, to suggest she’ll be hard to beat in the Oaks.

There’s been money come in also for The Roses runner-up Tinto who suffered interference in the run, Rex Lipp’s Toowoomba-based filly having won the Gold Coast Bracelet the run before at.

Tinto is at $7.50 while the only other single figure Oaks fancy for the weekend is the widely-drawn Khutulun ($8) who will jump from barrier 17 of 18.

Also out wide but with genuine claims is then Rock Diva, Tony Pike’s New Zealand raider occupying the fourth line of Queensland Oaks betting at $11 following a The Roses sixth in her Aussie debut.

So are these top rated fillies the ones to lock into your Queensland Oaks first four bets at Ladbrokes.com.au?

Or is there value further down the markets from a longer priced hope such as Pike’s other runner Sanceree ($14) who has won both her Queensland starts, the Anthony Cummings-trained Gold Coast Bracelet runner-up Paris Match ($14) or even David Hayes’ Street Cry filly Star Fashion ($17) with Group 1 form in Adelaide this season?

1^st

#1 Arabian Gold ($2.50)

She had a shoe mishap earlier in the week but all reports are that hasn’t caused any setbacks. Probably deserves to be odds-on based on what she’s done so we’ll take the $2.50 smiling. She’s drawn to perfection with the inside alley and should find a great spot in running like she did in The Roses before coming home with a blistering finish. She’s not really suited to the mile and a half according to her trainer but against these, at the roomy Eagle Farm track, from the Oaks’ most successful barrier should give it a red hot go and it’s only the distance that will beat her, nothing else.

2^nd

#8 Rock Diva ($11)

Has the wide outside barrier to overcome, and no Queensland Oaks winner has jumped from 18 in the past 30 years, but Pike’s Lucky Unicorn filly is a nice type with genuine claims. Her form back home in NZ is outstanding and she’s been over the 2400m when third in the Group 1 NZ Oaks in March. One of the few proven at the distance so that’s a huge plus, comes via a The Roses sixth and will improve on that having been dropped back to 2000m there and seeing an Aussie track for the first time.

3^rd

#2 Tinto ($7.50)

Jockey Tim Bell was full of praise for this Red Dazzler filly post-The Roses saying he couldn’t wait for the rematch with Arabian Gold. They went down a length and a quarter that day in an unlucky run, think they’ll get close again here and wouldn’t be a huge upset if they returned to their Bracelet winning form where they overcame barrier 14 on a mud track. Drawn well in barrier six and there’ll be no excuses this time if they get a clear run.

Roughie Tip

#15 Sister Souss ($41)

At $41 we think the John Thompson-trained Sister Souss, drawn ideally in barrier four, is a top chance for a first four finish at juicy odds. The Husson filly is up in class here but has been racing well and was under four lengths off Arabian Gold when fourth in The Roses in the lead-up from a similar barrier (3). Should appreciate the extra distance, has good form at Eagle Farm and is a genuine shot.

To get in on the Queensland Oaks betting action at the best prices this weekend make sure you’ve got an open at Ladbrokes.com.au.

Ladbrokes are running their Brisbane Group 1 special again on Saturday offering Best Tote or SP + 20% on your Queensland Oaks winnings so make sure you check them out now!

*All odds quoted are Fixed Win from Ladbrokes.com.au and subject to change