Antino aiming to end lean Melbourne run for Tony Gollan in Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes

Champion Queensland trainer Tony Gollan hasn’t been able to land a winner in Melbourne or Sydney but insists he isn’t getting frustrated.

Tony Gollan says there has been a bit of heartache with his interstate runners in recent times, but insists he isn’t overly frustrated because his team has been racing well.

Queensland’s premier trainer wins races for fun in the Sunshine State but hasn’t been able to strike a winning blow in recent times when deploying horses in Melbourne and Sydney.

Ahead of Antino’s tilt at the Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes at Flemington – and stablemates Wollombi and Comrade Rosa contesting the Group 2 Let’s Elope Stakes – Gollan was asked if there was a sense of frustration about his interstate runners.

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“No, they are all racing well,” Gollan replied.

“If they were racing poorly, I would be very frustrated.

“In saying that, we are there to win.

“We win races every week up at home in Queensland and I want to win races down south.

“My horses down south are racing well, but they are running into a better horse or not getting the right run.

“Zarastro ran well after overracing, Golden Boom only got beaten by a subsequent Group 1 winner (Mornington Glory), I thought Freedom Rally was terrific in Sydney in track record speed the other day.

“We haven’t got a winner down south recently, but I’m happy with the way the team is going.”

Antino must jump cleanly to be a threat in the Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes. Picture: Racing Photos via Getty Images

Gollan’s stable star Antino will attempt to break into the Group 1 winners’ club when he attacks the Makybe Diva as a $15 chance with champion Victorian jockey Blake Shinn replacing Jamie Kah in the saddle.

Antino has developed a costly habit of being slow away in recent runs, including in the Group 1 Memsie Stakes when he was too far off them before finishing solidly for fourth behind Pinstriped.

Gollan has tried to pull a few rabbits out of the hat to make Antino jump away more cleanly and said he needs to be closer in the run on Saturday at Flemington.

“We have done a bit of chiropractor work with him and some physio stuff, just to try to get him to step away,” Gollan said.

“His overall effort in the Memsie was terrific, he had to make a long sustained run, he wobbled a bit on the corner and lost his back end a touch.

“He finished off really well, you would be hard pressed not to be happy with it going to this mile race at Flemington.

“We will probably know our fate early on, we can’t afford to be too far out the back and giving them a huge start when you are racing at this level.

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“Blake knows him very well under race conditions, he rode him last spring. He knows what he is capable of.

“Hopefully we can be within striking distance in what is a bloody good race.”

Wollombi opened at $15 in the first Let’s Elope Stakes betting markets earlier this week and there has been strong money for the Yulong-owned mare, backed into $6.

The weight of money shouldn’t be a surprise given it was a horror watch when Wollombi was travelling like the winner in a Group 3 race at Caulfield, but never got clean air and went to the line without being tested as Quintessa got the money.

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“That just added to the heartache of what we have been going through down there – it was so close but yet so far,” Gollan said.

“She has drawn low on Saturday and we are going to get another really soft run and then need to get out late.

“She’s got an electric turn of foot, we will smother her up behind the speed and then unleash her late.”

Originally published as Antino aiming to end lean Melbourne run for Tony Gollan in Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes