Pride Of Jenni faces rematch test in Doomben Cup
Pride Of Jenni draws barrier 4 for a Doomben Cup rematch with the Hollindale placings, while Half Yours attacks from gate 7 in a race shaped by late closers.
Pride Of Jenni will again try to make the Doomben Cup her own from the front, with the Ciaron Maher mare set for a familiar tactical battle in Saturday’s AU$1 million Group 1 at Doomben Racecourse over 2000m.
The 8-year-old arrives after her emphatic Hollindale Stakes win on May 9 and will chase a fifth Group 1 victory from barrier 4. The rematch angle is obvious: Birdman drew gate 5 and She’s a Hustler landed gate 3, putting the placegetters from the Gold Coast back in the same orbit, while Kovalica is in barrier 1 and Asterix is in gate 2. Vauban, another serious middle-distance player, will jump from barrier 6.
The small field of seven gives the race a tight, tactical shape rather than a wide-open scramble. Half Yours, trained by Tony and Calvin McEvoy and ridden by Jamie Melham, drew the outside gate in 7 and opened as the $3 favorite when the field was released. That wide draw only sharpens the question at the heart of the race: can anything pressure Pride Of Jenni early, or will the field again be forced to chase her when the tempo rises?
Jimmy Cassidy believes the answer lies in patience, not confrontation. He has backed the notion that the Doomben Cup will be decided in the final 50 metres, and said you do not want to go at Pride Of Jenni from the 1,000-metre mark or the home turn. The Hall of Fame rider also drew a line back to Might And Power, the great front-running grinder he knows better than most, as the style guide for how this race may unfold.
Pride Of Jenni’s record explains why the rematch matters. By Pride Of Dubai out of Sancerre, she has had 47 starts for 13 wins, 10 seconds and four thirds, and has earned more than A$12.3 million. Her return to peak form after a bleeding attack in the Champions Mile in November 2024 has restored her as one of Australasia’s most powerful pace horses, and this race now asks the same question again: can she be caught once she controls the rhythm?
The Doomben Cup, first run in 1933, has long produced horses that matter beyond one afternoon in Brisbane. Bernborough, Might And Power, Zaaki and 2025 winner Antino are part of that line, and Antino’s track-record 2:00.88 last year set a high benchmark for the next horse to dominate the winter feature.
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