KEY POINTS:
Saturday was a great day for the Moroney stable - Eskimo Queen brilliantly won the Queensland Oaks at Eagle Farm and, across the Ditch, Xcellent galloped in great style between races at Ellerslie here in New Zealand.
Yesterday the news was not quite so good - unless you're a Queensland farmer.
Drought-stricken Queensland yesterday had its first positive weather sign for a long time - heavy rain has been predicted for Brisbane and much of the parched state from the middle of this week.
It is the first such weather prediction for 18 months and it comes in the one week the Xcellent camp would have been praying for a continuation of the fine conditions.
Xcellent is booked to be flown to Brisbane late this week to run in Saturday's A$1 million ($1.12 million) Stradbroke Handicap, his first start since finishing third to Makybe Diva in the 2005 Melbourne Cup.
But the camp has said all along that an indication of a very wet track at Eagle Farm might see a cancellation of those plans.
Regular rider Michael Coleman said Xcellent was starting to enjoy his work after the pair galloped between races on Saturday.
"I can't fault his action," said Coleman.
The Queensland TAB has not taken chances with Xcellent, quoting him $10 for what is an incredible difficult assignment.
