Australian trainer Tony Gollan admits the path his star galloper Antino has taken to get to the HK$36 million Group 1 Hong Kong Mile (1600m) at Sha Tin on Sunday is one of racing’s bizarre stories.
Antino was bred by Hong Kong-based George Kit Ma’s Blossom Trading & Breeding Company Ltd and was subsequently bought for a meagre HK$135,000 by Hong Kong businessman Jeetu Ramchandani who, virtually on a whim, made the online bid at the 2020 New Zealand Ready To Run Sale for two-year-olds.
Ramchandani, who admitted he had done zero diligence, pulled up the sales on his computer screen at work and thought the horse looked “nice” and made the winning bid.
The New Zealand-bred horse was then sent to Australia to be educated and any thoughts Ramchandani had of sending the gelding to race in Hong Kong would have been difficult when it returned a less than satisfactory veterinary report at the New Zealand sale – a condition which probably explained his bargain price.
Fortunately, the veterinary scope report had no bearing on the horse’s performances and he has already banked HK$11 million.
Armed with Group 2 and Group 3 victories, Antino broke through for his maiden Group 1 win when Blake Shinn scored an exciting six and a half length victory in the Group 1 Toorak Handicap (1600m) at Caulfield and followed with a narrow second at his last start in the Group 1 VRC Champions Mile (1600m) at Flemington on 9 November.
Gollan said it was remarkable Antino has made his way to Hong Kong.
“Obviously the owner bought him online at a ready to run sale from New Zealand and he is a New Zealand-bred horse who has made his way to Queensland in Australia,” Gollan said.
“It’s quite remarkable that to get back over here and it’s fantastic for his owner to have the horse racing here on such a big day. It’s a full circle for this horse, that’s for sure.
“It’s a good story to have the horse racing here in the owner’s home town.”
Gollan knows Sunday’s race is another step-up on what Antino has contested in the past with the field containing a strong mix of top local and international runners. The Queenslander admits he doesn’t know much about the form of the other international runners and how their form compares with Antino.
“I can draw a little bit of a line through some of the horse’s form, but the market is usually better informed that I am and the market says it’s a very open race,” he said.
“The market has been open for a while and we knew we were a good enough chance in what looked to be an open Hong Kong Mile without them having their local champion Golden Sixty.”
Gollan admitted the retirement of the legendary Golden Sixty, international racing’s highest-ever prizemoney earner, was a major reason to make the decision to contest the Hong Kong Mile.
“It’s a different style Hong Kong Mile this year and my job was to make sure to get him to the races on Sunday in good as shape as he was at Flemington in the (Group 1) Champions Mile (1600m),” he said.
“If we can do that, the market shows we can be competitive.
“He has pretty well matched it with the best milers all spring.”
Asked if Antino would have made the trip to Hong Kong if Golden Sixty was still racing, Gollan said: “It would have made things a little bit different, wouldn’t it. It’s a hypothetical question but would I have come here to take on a $1.40 local? Maybe not.”
Shinn, who has ridden with great success in Hong Kong, is back on Antino after missing his last start because of suspension and was replaced by Mark Zahra who rode the gelding to a narrow second in the Group 1 VRC Champions Mile (1600m) to specialist miler and eight-time Group 1 winner Mr Brightside.
Gollan said it just wasn’t an advantage to have Shinn on because of his local Sha Tin knowledge, but he knows the traits of the horse who can make things difficult by being tardy out of the barriers and getting back in his races.
A fast finisher, he’ll appreciate both a strong tempo and a firm track.
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