Luck can play a huge part in racing.
Bad luck. Good luck. Or, as the saying goes, make your own luck.
For Speak The Truth, his career could arguably be defined by all three.
Although born early in January of 2019, Speak The Truth is registered as a foal of the 2018 crop. That is the same season as Leap To Fame.
Take away the career performance of Leap To Fame and Speak The Truth is arguably the best Queensland pacer this decade.
Approaching $1 million in stakes earnings, the gelding currently sits sixth on the all-time QBRED earners list, which is headed by Blacks A Fake.
Of the top 15 horses on that list, there are 14 that have tasted Group 1 success.
In a career that includes placings in the Miracle Mile and Inter Dominion, amazingly, Speak The Truth is the exception. He has never won a Group 1 event.
Strengthening the record and stakes amassed thus far, the gelding missed all the main features of his three-year-old season after requiring time in the paddock just prior to the 2022 Queensland Constellations.
Speak The Truth was ranked 10 when the first round of Inter Dominion rankings was released.
As he has done through much of his career, Speak The Truth chased home Leap To Fame in the 2025 Inter Final and finished second.
That was the second Inter Dominion Final that the gelding has contested after progressing to the 2023 Final, where he finished in sixth place.
Trainer Shannon Price had two runners in 2025. Sure Thing Captain finished eighth after starting from wide on the second line. Price will attempt to qualify both again in 2026.
Sure Thing Captain has not raced since the Len Smith Mile at Menangle in September but has been ranked 18 for the series.
A winner of 14 races from just 33 starts, the six-year-old was victorious in both heat rounds in 2025.
However, his place in the 2026 series is far from certain, with regulatory clearance making his appearance in the series clouded.
Price and her stable will potentially have another runner in the series, with Final Deadline ranked 39.
While nominated for the Inters, the four-year-old might take another path with plenty of options available throughout the Constellations.
Contesting the Queensland and Victoria Derby for Price last season, the gelding has recorded three wins and three placings from six starts in 2026.
Runner-up to Captains Mistress in the Chariots Of Fire, the gelding then went within an eyelash of victory in the Group 2 Light Horse Free For All, which is a race regarded as the Miracle Mile Consolation.
Back at the trials last week, Final Deadline was given an easy time in his first hit-out since the Light Horse as he builds into the latest campaign.
Potential targets during the Queensland Constellations include The Queensland Sun, which is a race that was won by Speak The Truth as a four-year-old in 2023.
Winning The Queensland Sun earns a ballot exemption for The Rising Sun. Victory in The Rising Sun by a four-year-old secures exemption for the Inter Dominion Final.
Another four-year-old Price will be hoping continues to improve is the trotting mare Sassy Galleon.
A runner in the 2025 edition of The Great Square as a three-year-old, the filly made a mess of the start and took no part in the race that was won by champion mare Keayang Zahara.
With The Great Square returning to the Queensland Constellations in 2026, redemption would be sweet if the daughter of Angus Hall lines up in the Group 1 feature.
With her wayward manners seemingly a trait of the past, the mare has been in great form to record five wins from eight starts this season.
Sassy Galleon has a last start victory in 1.55.2 over the mile and has also produced an impressive 1.56.8 over 2138 metres, which is the same trip as The Great Square.
With the talent to make an impact on the Constellations, Price will be hoping to make her own luck.
