Latest news with #Zarastro
News.com.au
a day ago
- Sport
- News.com.au
Angela Jones' narrow miss in the Group 1 Kingsford Smith Cup has only fuelled her hunger to win a major
Queensland jockey Angela Jones has declared that her narrow miss in the recent Group 1 Kingsford Smith Cup has only fuelled her hunger to win a major on high-flying mare Floozie in the Tatt's Tiara at Eagle Farm on Saturday. Jones looked the winner for most of the way on the Tony Gollan -trained gelding Zarastro in the 1300m Group 1 on June 7 at Eagle Farm before James McDonald came from clouds to score a jaw-dropping victory on Chris Waller's Joliestar. But now Jones, 24, is hellbent on collecting her first major in the $700,000 Tatt's Tiara (1400m) for fillies and mares on Saturday as Floozie chases a remarkable fifth straight victory. The Charters Towers product said she gave herself a moment to absorb the bitter disappointment of missing out on Group 1 glory before picking herself up off the canvas to prepare for her next shot at the main prize. • PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet's team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW! 'It was such a thrill and also a little bit heartbreaking at the time,' she said about the Zarastro ride. 'I looked back on it and the week after it really gave me a little bit more motivation. 'To come so close, it only really motivated me more to win one. 'Losing to a horse (Joliestar) that's won some pretty good races, including Group 1s, and it had less weight than us too so it really showed that Zarastro deserved to be in a Group 1 field and there is one for him down the track. 'I probably let myself be sad that night and then the next day it was 'right, I'm ready to move on' and we'll try to take the positives out of it and there were plenty of positives there. 'The owners were stoked and Tony (Gollan) was happy so we could walk away with our heads held high and hope to get one down the track.' An EPIC finish in the G1 Kingsford Smith Cup sees Joliestar nab them right on the line to take her third Group 1! 🤩 @cwallerracing @mcacajamez @BrisRacingClub @RaceQLD — SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 7, 2025 That chance comes on Saturday, with Jones insisting she wouldn't want to be riding any other horse than four-year-old Floozie, who is rated a $4.50 chance in early betting behind Firestorm ($3.50) but ahead of Tashi ($6) and Zaszou ($8). Floozie defeated the Waller-trained Firestorm in the $300,000 Group 2 Dane Ripper Stakes (1300m) just eight days ago, with runner-up Tashi splitting the pair. 'She's pretty easy to ride every time,' Jones said about Floozie, who is also trained by Gollan. 'You can sort of do whatever you want on her so that takes the nerves away from it. 'She's a horse where if you've got a tricky gate or a heavy track, she'll still do her very best. 'Obviously we'd love to draw between four and six but if we can't then she can overcome a bad gate or bad track. 'She definitely deserves to be in it. There's probably nothing else I'd prefer to ride. 'I don't think anyone would have imagined at the start of her prep that she'd end up in this race and be in such fine form but here we are and I couldn't be more excited for it.' Floozie brains them in the G2 Dane Ripper Stakes! ðŸ'¥ @tonygollan — SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 14, 2025 The Tatt's Tiara will be Jones' fourth shot at a major this winter carnival following an 11th placing in the Queensland Oaks (2200m) on Sun Worshipper, second in the Kingsford Smith Cup on Zarastro and ninth in the Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) on Transatlantic. 'Getting a Group 2 victory (in the Dane Ripper Stakes) was a highlight but I'd love to get the Tatt's Tiara, that would make it wonderful,' said Jones, who has jagged 56 wins this season to sit just three behind leader Emily Lang in the Brisbane metro jockeys' premiership. 'So far if I walk away with what I have now then I'd be pretty happy with the winter carnival.' And what about that elusive Group 1? 'It'd be amazing. I'd love to get that but if it doesn't come this time, then hopefully there will be many more around the corner,' she said.
News.com.au
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Angela Jones seizes unexpected opportunity with Zarastro in Group 1 Kingsford Smith Cup
Angela Jones was one of the few people at Eagle Farm last Saturday who was not at all dismayed when the races were called off. It meant she now gets an unexpected shot at riding in the third Group 1 race of her career. With Tony Gollan's speed machine Zarastro scratched from the Group 1 Kingsford Smith Cup last Saturday because of the deteriorating track, Jones was secretly hoping the race might not go ahead when more bad weather struck. With the Group 1 postponed to this Saturday at Eagle Farm, and scratchings reinstated, the rising star Queensland jockey gets her Group 1 chance on one of her favourite horses. 'When I heard he was scratched I was hoping the meeting got called off, because I really want to see him in a good Group 1 field this winter carnival,' Jones said. 'Riding Zarastro would probably be my best chance to win a Group 1 to date and I have formed some a good connection with him. 'It's now pretty special to be riding him at that top level, when he's been such a good horse to me. 'He goes hard and he's a big beast of a horse and he knows that. 'But come to race day and he's pretty straightforward. 'He has to roll along, that's his advantage, he can't be going too slow or it doesn't work out. 'He knows what pace he needs to go at and you just have to roll with him.' • Queensland Oaks tips, runner-by-runner form analysis Zarastro has already given Jones three stakes wins and provided some of the biggest moments in the jockey's young career when scoring a $1m race on Gold Coast Magic Millions day in January and a Group 3 sprint during last year's Queensland winter carnival. Zarastro, a winner of more than $1.3m in prizemoney, is a $23 chance in the Kingsford Smith which has been weakened by several scratchings. Jones' two Group 1 experiences so far have come when riding $101 bolter Tick Tock Queen (eighth in last year's Stradbroke) and Comrade Rosa (12th in last year's Tatt's Tiara). She feels Zarastro will make his presence felt on Saturday. • $8000 filly who 'walks like a duck' spices up Stradbroke field Jones is currently seven wins behind her great mate, apprentice jockey Emily Lang, in the race for the Brisbane jockeys' title. 'The premiership is in the back of my mind, I can't have it in forefront of my mind,' Jones said. 'I've just got to focus on riding the winners I can and making the most of the chances you have, rather than focusing on the numbers and what could be or what could have been. 'I am good friends with Emily, which makes it almost harder. 'First things first and I'm looking forward to Zarastro. 'The race looks to map quite well last week for him and it will again this week, if the sun stays out. 'I don't see why he can't be competitive.' Bosustow, who was disappointing finishing sixth in the Fred Best Classic at Doomben on Wednesday, has joined Private Eye in being scratched from the Kingsford Smith.
