Three and a half hours before Moonlight Magic took her place in Saturday’s Gr.1 Queensland Derby (2400m) at Eagle Farm, her half-brother Belardi kicked off a huge day for the family with victory in the Listed John Turkington Forestry Castletown Stakes (1200m) at Wanganui.

With a win in the Listed VRC TAB Trophy last spring and last start runner-up in the Group 1 South Australian Derby, Warmonger presented as a promising young stayer, but nothing could prepare for his virtuoso performance in Saturday’s $1,000,000 Ladbrokes Queensland Derby (2400m) at Eagle Farm.