Latest news with #Hollindale
News.com.au
20-05-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Tony Gollan insists Doomben Cup not a two-horse race between Antino and Pride Of Jenni
There will be beers flowing freely if either Antino or Pride Of Jenni wins the Group 1 Doomben Cup, but champion Queensland trainer Tony Gollan warns 'it's certainly not a two-horse race.' The Brisbane Racing Club's promotion of a free amber ale for any adult on track if either of the two favourites scores the Doomben Cup is a great promotional tool, but Antino's trainer Gollan said it would be no surprise if there was a party pooper. While Blake Shinn 's daring ride on Antino to win the Hollindale Stakes was exceptional, Gollan said the nature of the Gold Coast track that day meant there were plenty of valid excuses among the beaten brigade. Doomben Cup contenders such as Eliyass and Buckaroo were beaten out of sight on the Heavy 9 track that day and other Doomben Cup hopefuls such as last year's winner Bois D'Argent and Fawkner Park also didn't love the sodden track. Pride Of Jenni and Antino may be the top pegs in Doomben Cup betting, but Gollan said there are many chances in one of the better Doomben Cups he can remember in his time training in Brisbane. 'There is some media around the promotion with the free beers and that's all great for the carnival,' Gollan said. 'But this is certainly not a two-horse race. 'We are well aware there are many chances and it's probably as strong a Doomben Cup as we have seen for some time. 'It is a hell of a deep Doomben Cup. 'I don't think I have seen a Doomben Cup for some time with so many chances in it and it will be such a good betting race. 'I think a lot of people will discard the Hollindale form, to a degree, due to the way the track was that day with the kickback. 'You can make excuses for beaten horses there for sure.' Antino had a spin around Doomben at 6am on Tuesday with his regular track work rider, former jockey Baylee Nothdurft, in the saddle. It wasn't an overtaxing gallop with Gollan mindful it was a big effort to win the Hollindale and now he just needs to tick him over before Saturday. Pride Of Jenni was due to arrive on a flight to Queensland on Tuesday night and Gollan is glad the Ciaron Maher -trained freakish talent is in the race. Given the different track conditions – with little rain forecast in Brisbane this week – and Pride Of Jenni's frontrunning style, Gollan said it will be a very different race to the Hollindale. 'How much you want to take out of that Gold Coast meeting will be up to each person individually,' Gollan said. 'I think it's going to be a hell of a race, we know what Pride Of Jenni's style of racing is. 'There are plenty coming out of the Hollindale that you can make excuses for. 'There were contributing factors down there as to why some horses didn't run to their best, with the surface that day and the kickback.' Gollan said Antino, last year's Group 1 Toorak Handicap champion, is the best horse he has trained. Asked specifically why he holds Antino in such high esteem, Gollan said it was because 'of his ability to sustain a gallop for longer than any horse I've ever trained'. Pride Of Jenni drew barrier one for her Doomben Cup assignment while Antino drew barrier 11 of 13. Drawing out wide isn't too much of a worry for Antino, given he is sometimes slow away and a wider draw can be preferable to an inside draw. He started from barrier 10 of 13 when Shinn took off from back in the field to win the Hollindale. The Doomben Cup has produced double-figure winners the last three years with Bois D'Argent ($26) getting the chocolates last year and the previous two years Huetor saluted at $10 and $26.
News.com.au
05-05-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Top Sydney trainer Annabel Archibald will be eyeing a fifth straight Hollindale Stakes success this Saturday
Top Sydney trainer Annabel Archibald has marvelled at the depth of this year's Queensland Winter Carnival as she prepares her star duo Fawkner Park and Bois D'argent for the Group 2 Hollindale Stakes on the Gold Coast on Saturday. The newly married Archibald and her co-trainer and husband Rob kicked off the winter carnival in style last Saturday, winning both Group 2 races at Eagle Farm in the Queensland Guineas (1600m) with Depth of Character and then the Victory Stakes (1200m) with roughie Libertad. Now Archibald turns her attention to winning the $500,000 Hollindale Stakes (1800m) for the fifth straight year after taking out last year's major with Numerian and before that dominant 2021 Doomben Cup champion Zaaki won it three times in a row under James McDonald. Archibald said Ethan Brown would ride six-year-old gelding Fawkner Park and Josh Parr would likely be on grey warhorse Bois D'argent in the Hollindale. 'Fawkner Park, he's obviously racing really well this preparation against elite company,' Archibald said. 'It's still going to be a good race but it'll probably be a bit easier than the Queen Elizabeth (at Randwick on April 12 when he finished eighth, almost six lengths behind Via Sistina). 'We know he likes Queensland and we're looking forward to getting him up here.' The Chris Waller-trained Buckaroo heads the early market for the Hollindale Stakes at a short $2.80, ahead of Fawkner Park ($4.50) and Queensland gelding Antino ($5). Waller said he planned to field four runners - Buckaroo, Lindermann ($6), Osipenko ($8) and Militarize ($15) - in the 1800m feature on Saturday. Archibald said this winter carnival was shaping to be much stronger than previous years. 'Buckaroo is heading up to the Hollindale and he's a Caulfield Cup runner-up and he won the Underwood Stakes (at Caulfield last September),' she said. 'He's a proper horse. We're starting to see these really good horses stay on longer into their campaigns and then head up here. 'It's been a good springboard for the top horses. Fawkner Park ran well here, we've had Zaaki up here in previous years, Without A Fight, Incentivise. 'It's been a happy hunting ground for horses to go on and be at the elite level in Sydney and Melbourne afterwards. 'I think the depth in the middle-distance staying races is getting stronger with more and more people importing those well-credentialed horses from overseas.' Fawkner Park finished third in last year's Group 1 Doomben Cup (2000m), behind winning stablemate Bois D'argent, before jagging the Group 2 Q22 (2200m) three weeks later at Eagle Farm ahead of subsequent Melbourne Cup champion Knight's Choice. Waller said last year's Melbourne Cup favourite Buckaroo, which placed ninth in the race that stops a nation, would headline a 'strong hand' for his Hollindale Stakes aspirations. 'It seems to fit in pretty well with a few of our horses,' he said. ' Buckaroo is a good example. We gave him a bit more time after he ran in the Melbourne Cup so his first-up run was the George Ryder (ninth of 11 runners), second-up the Queen Elizabeth (seventh of 13) and now third-up for the Hollindale. 'He's a pretty good horse and looks well placed I would think. 'It'll be a length easier than some of the horses he's been going up against but in saying that, I haven't seen the field yet.'
