Doomben Cup foes Pride Of Jenni and Antino come face-to-face before Group 1 clash
Pride Of Jenni and Antino have come together to eye each other off before they do battle in the Group 1 Doomben Cup on Saturday.
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Antino might not be able to see frontrunning Pride Of Jenni with binoculars at various stages in the running of the Doomben Cup, but the two racing superstars touched noses and eyed each other off on Thursday.
The fancied Group 1 Doomben Cup pair are in stable boxes not far apart in Tony Gollan’s Eagle Farm stables and they came together for a special picture, snapped by The Courier-Mail.
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Reigning Australian horse of the year Pride Of Jenni was with her trusted offsider, strapper Sammie Waters, while Antino had his regular trackwork rider Baylee Nothdurft, a former champions jockey, for company.
It’s not unheard of but it is rare for the two betting fancies in a prestigious Group 1 race to be in such close proximity in the lead-up to the race.
But Victoria’s champion trainer Ciaron Maher always stables his horses with Gollan when he ventures to Queensland … and Gollan does the same when he heads to Victoria.
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During last year’s winter carnival, Maher’s super mare Bella Nipotina was based at Gollan’s stables when she won a pair of Group 1s and so too was Socks Nation when conjuring an incredible $101 Group 1 Queensland Oaks boilover.
Pride Of Jenni will adopt her catch-me-if-you-can tactics in the Group 1 on Saturday and Antino is likely to be conceding her a big start in the 2000m race.
Gollan said if Antino didn’t win the Doomben Cup, he would be cheering for his mate Maher.
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“I really mean this, if we don’t win the Doomben Cup I certainly hope Ciaron does,” Gollan said.
“When Ciaron’s horses come up here to Queensland, they get looked after like they are my horses.
“If Ciaron is not here, I keep a really good eye on his horses for him.
“Generally, we would probably talk two of three times a week.
“The other day I was talking to him about one of his horses who galloped at Eagle Farm that I clocked for him.”
Gollan declared earlier this week that the Doomben Cup was certainly not a two-horse race, despite most of the attention being on Antino and Pride Of Jenni who are the top two betting picks.
However, he feels Pride Of Jenni’s bold frontrunning tactics could potentially help Antino.
“I like having Pride Of Jenni in the race, I have raced against her a bunch of times with Antino,” Gollan said.
“Antino seems to enjoy when she (Pride Of Jenni) picks the tempo up a fair way out.
“But I wouldn’t like to be giving her too much start.
“Blake Shinn will ride my horse like he feels like he needs to on the day.”
Originally published as Doomben Cup foes Pride Of Jenni and Antino come face-to-face before Group 1 clash
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