Jamie Kah new rider for Tony Gollan-trained Antino in Group 1 spring carnival mission

Star Victorian jockey will partner a Group 1-placed interstate raider the Group 1 Memsie Stakes at Caulfield later this month.

Star jockey Jamie Kah (right) will ride Tony Gollan's Antino this Spring.

Jamie Kah has jumped at the chance to be Antino’s new rider for the start of a bumper Group 1 Victorian spring carnival campaign.

Kah will ride champion Queensland trainer Tony Gollan’s best horse at a Cranbourne jumpout on Monday and then when he races first-up in the Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on August 31.

“We put the (Antino) ride out to four or five of the top riders down there in Victoria and Jamie was pretty quick to want to lock it in,” Gollan told Racenet.

“Jamie is going to ride Antino in the jumpout on Monday and she is going to ride him in the Memsie.

Antino is back! He wins the G2 Victory Stakes, and it’s three winners for @tonygollan and two for Vlad Duric at Eagle Farm!

@BrisRacingClubpic.twitter.com/rWUEYSl9gk

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) May 4, 2024

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“She is a terrific rider and I was more than happy to lock her in, so I could get her on Antino in the jumpout on Monday.

“He is a bit of a fickle horse, jockeys have to get to know him a bit.

“It will be good for her to get a bit of a feel for him.

“We will get through the first run first, but hopefully Jamie can also ride him in the Makybe Diva Stakes and then we will take things from there.”

Tony Gollan and Antino. Picture: Steve Pohlner

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Kah has never ridden Antino before but has combined with Gollan for Group 1 success, scoring a freakish Kingsford Smith Cup triumph at Eagle Farm when riding Vega One in 2021.

Mark Zahra had been slated to ride Antino when the galloper kicked off his 2024 Queensland winter carnival campaign, but connections opted for Caulfield Cup winning rider Vlad Duric after Zahra was suspended.

Antino captured the Group 2 Victory Stakes in emphatic style and started as a $7 chance in the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap but was never a factor after being slow away, beaten six lengths by Stefi Magnetica.

The brilliant Antino. Picture: Grant Peters / Trackside Photography

Antino, who boasts a Group 1 runner-up finish behind Attrition in last year’s Toorak Handicap at Caulfield, was slated to do more track work in Brisbane this week but wet weather saw him head straight to Melbourne on Tuesday night.

Antino is part of a five-strong Gollan team to be deployed in Melbourne in the coming weeks.

The champion Brisbane trainer is hoping some early Group 1 spring carnival races will be in Antino’s wheelhouse.

Amazing scenes 🙌

Attrition delivers @Freedmanmitch & @beau_mertens their first G1 victories 💥 pic.twitter.com/IxUxDuF21P

— Racing.com (@Racing) October 14, 2023

“Early in the spring with his residual fitness from the winter, hopefully we can aim up with those better horses knowing they are coming off a bit longer lay-off,” Gollan said.

“We will get the first two races done with Antino and then work out what the rest of the spring looks like from there.”

Antino, who holds a Cox Plate nomination, is rated a $26 chance on TAB fixed odds in early betting on the Memsie.

Originally published as Jamie Kah new rider for Tony Gollan-trained Antino in Group 1 spring carnival mission