Blake Shinn in emotional history-making Doomben Cup mission with Antino
Blake Shinn can nab a record-breaking fourth Doomben Cup as he rides Queensland star Antino in a Group 1 race which is always full of emotion for the champion jockey.
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Blake Shinn says Group 1 Doomben Cup time brings back a lot of emotions and he believes he can create a new milestone in Saturday’s race thanks to Antino’s “huge motor”.
Shinn looked to the heavens last year following his Doomben Cup triumph on roughie Bois D’Argent as the jockey remembered the late trainer and mentor Guy Walter who passed away just days after their Doomben Cup win with Streama a decade earlier in 2014.
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The 2024 triumph was Shinn’s third Doomben Cup win as he equalled a jockey record on the day.
The only other jockeys to have won the Doomben Cup three times are Jim Cassidy, Kerrin McEvoy, Maurice McCarten and George Moore.
Shinn has a golden chance to create a new slice of Doomben Cup history when he rides Antino ($3) who has usurped Pride Of Jenni ($3.80) as favourite in the race since the barrier draw on Tuesday.
Pride Of Jenni arrived in Qld safe and sound overnight, flight operators say they were really happy with how she travelled, hardly moved a muscle on ✈ï¸@BrisRacingClub@cmaherracing@RacenetTweetspic.twitter.com/Xg2nKix3uC
— Ben Dorries (@bendorries76) May 20, 2025
• ‘No two-horse race’: Gollan insists chances aplenty in Doomben Cup
Tony Gollan was happy enough drawing barrier 11 with Antino, who does not like getting cluttered away, and Pride Of Jenni has drawn the inside barrier.
Two of Shinn’s wins on Antino have been incredible pieces of riding.
It was a daring masterstroke to take off early in the Hollindale Stakes on the Gold Coast – circling the field from back and charging to the lead – and it was reminiscent of what he did in the Group 1 Toorak Handicap win at Caulfield last year.
Shinn said the key to his stunning success on Antino was fairly simple.
“His engine allows me to do what I do on him, he’s got a huge motor,” Shinn told Racenet.
“He’s just got great aerobic capacity.
“As for my tactics on him, some of it is preconceived and some of it is just me thinking during the run.
“It is a bit of both.
“It is me knowing the capabilities of the horse and also riding the race as it is unfolding.
“This race always brings back a lot of memories for me and a lot of emotions, remembering Guy (Walter).
“He was a big influence on my career.
“Pride Of Jenni being there this year makes for an interesting race, doesn’t it?
“We will just have to wait and see how the race unfolds on Saturday.”
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For most of his career, Antino has been trained as a sprinter-miler but Gollan’s plan to extend his best horse out to 2000m could be a gem.
In the Hollindale win over 1800m, Antino gave every impression he enjoyed racing over more ground.
Shinn revealed he had nothing to do with the blueprint to try something new over more ground with Antino, saying: “That was all Tony’s idea.”
“Antino always gave me an impression he would be fine over 2000m, he settles well enough to try it,” Shinn said.
“But that was all Tony’s idea and I left that decision up to him.”
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Shinn said anyone wanting to get a bird’s eye view of Antino’s huge motor and his sustained gallop should go and watch the stewards’ footage of his Hollindale Stakes romp.
Meanwhile, Antino’s main rival Pride Of Jenni arrived safely in Queensland on Tuesday night and has settled into Gollan’s Eagle Farm stables.
Ciaron Maher traditionally stables his horses at Gollan’s when the Victorian trainer sends horses to Queensland – and it is vice versa when Gollan sends horses to Victoria.
Flight operators were happy with how Pride Of Jenni was on the flight north, saying she hardly moved a muscle on the flight.
Originally published as Blake Shinn in emotional history-making Doomben Cup mission with Antino
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