Jones booked in for spring fling with Zarastro
Jones went within a whisker of winning her first Group 1 on Zarastro in the Kingsford Smith Cup (1300m) in June, only to be denied by the brilliance of superstar hoop James McDonald on the Chris Waller-trained mare Joliestar.
Brisbane's premiership-winning jockey Jones put Zarastro through his paces on Monday, easily winning a jumpout at Cranbourne as the six-year-old prepares for the $200,000 Group 3 The Heath (1100m) at Caulfield on Saturday week.
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The seven-year-old gelding will then likely head to the $2m Group 1 Manikato Stakes (1200m) at The Valley on September 26 before contesting the $2m Group 3 Sydney Stakes (1200m) on The Everest Day in October at Randwick, although Gollan said there was 'wiggle room' to that plan.
And in a sign of how far Jones has improved in the past 12 months, Gollan said the 24-year-old Queenslander would likely stay on Zarastro for his spring campaign, despite the availability of several champion Group 1-winning jockeys.
'Yeah, well there's no reason to take her off,' Gollan said on Monday before boarding a plane from Melbourne back to Brisbane.
'She's got a good association and a good record with the horse so provided the prep is going well and she's going well with him then there's no reason to change.
'She was always booked to come down and ride him.'
Angela Jones and Zarastro return to scale after winning the Magic Millions Snippets in January. Picture: Grant Peters - Trackside Photography
Gollan could have easily sought the services of champion jockey Blake Shinn, who rode his Cox Plate-bound stable star Antino to memorable victories in the Toorak Handicap last spring and the Doomben Cup in the Queensland winter carnival.
Shinn is currently serving a nine-meeting suspension for careless riding but will return to the saddle at Ballarat on August 26.
However, Jones has proved she has the right temperament, hunger, work ethic and class to break through for a Group 1 victory after going so close in the Kingsford Smith Cup.
'I think it's a really good move to bring her down and ride him (Zarastro),' said Gollan, who also watched Antino run around in Monday's Cranbourne jumpouts.
'He's always been a quirky little bugger and she gets along with him really well.
'She came down and gave him a jumpout and had a bit of a feel for Victoria, what it's like going this way around.'
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Jones' Brisbane jockeys' premiership defence got off to a rocky start when she was forced to serve a 13-day suspension at the start of the 2025-26 season.
She has two metro victories from 12 starts but has plenty of time to catch early leader Ben Thompson (seven wins from 37 rides).
Since former Waller-trained Zarastro came to Gollan's stable in mid 2023, Jones has ridden the gelding in most of his trials and races, including his victory in the $1m Magic Millions Snippets (1200m) on the Gold Coast in January.
In-form jockey Ryan Maloney will ride stablemate Golden Boom in the $175,000 Carlyon Stakes at The Valley (1000m) on Saturday.
Golden Boom finished runner-up in that Listed race last year to Mornington Glory, which went on to win the Group 1 Moir Stakes (1000m) just two weeks later.
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