Antino bids to show G1 credentials in Makybe Diva Stakes

Trainer Tony Gollan will instruct Blake Shinn to keep Antino busy behind the barriers in a bid to get the gelding to begin better than he has in recent starts.

Shinn reunites with Antino in the Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) at Flemington on Saturday, having not ridden the gelding since last spring.

Jamie Kah had the ride on Antino when finishing a first-up fourth in the Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on August 31.

“Getting Blake back on I think is a positive,” Gollan said.

“I’ve got no knock on Jamie, she’s a terrific rider as well, but Blake sat on him so many times last spring, so he knows the horse really well.

“That’s always a positive having a jockey that knows him that little bit better.”

Antino was slow to begin in the Memsie Stakes, which dented the gelding’s chances, and would like to see him begin better on Saturday.

Gollan is planning to have someone on Antino’s tail just before the start and have Shinn keeping the horse moving before entering the barriers.

He said he was loathe to do any barrier work with the gelding in between his Memsie and Makybe Diva starts.

“After this run and if we wanted to wait a month and play around with a few things, then we could do that,” Gollan said.

“My plan was to run in these two races and then there is options and one of those is maybe do some different work with him and space him between runs, maybe a month, and go to something like the Toorak Handicap.

“We’ll get through Saturday and see what the subtle changes do.”

Gollan expects Saturday’s race to be run at an honest tempo with Pride Of Jenni engaged, and he does not want Antino giving away too much of a start.

After settling last in Memsie, Antino ran home to finish fourth behind Pinstriped and Mr Brightside.

“I thought his run in the Memsie was terrific,” Gollan said.

“He’s in good order, he’s trained on well, he’s just got to begin a bit better and give himself that chance early in the race and not give himself so much work to do.

“My tactic with this horse is pretty much to see him step away.

“There’s no secret with how the race will be run with Pride Of Jenni in the race

“She’ll put some pressure on mid-race which is her strength, but that’s not a problem for him, provided he can step and be that little better early.

“If he’s out the back and chasing, it makes it a long mile.

“The race is really strong. There’s only eight runners, but it’s an exceptionally strong field and we’ll certainly know where we’re at after the race.”