Angela Jones' narrow miss in the Group 1 Kingsford Smith Cup has only fuelled her hunger to win a major
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 pic.twitter.com/9AimF9fMu7
— 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 pic.twitter.com/raJPcbb1Ky
— 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.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
33 minutes ago
- ABC News
Rugby League 26 video game developer hits back at criticism from players who 'should know better'
The boss of video game developer Big Ant Studios has hit back at criticism of the newly launched Rugby League 26 game, following high-profile players slamming the release. Some players, including Sydney Roosters prop Millie Elliott and State of Origin star Kennedy Cherrington, have criticised their likeness in the game, while issues with the gameplay and the inability to use players in their real-world positions have also caused backlash. Issues ranged from retired players being highly rated, to stadiums being in the wrong cities, while gameplay was also highlighted on social media. Ross Symons, chief executive of Big Ant Studios, hit back at the criticism of likenesses in Rugby League 26. "The ones that are talking should know better because, frankly, they've made statements that really are reasonably outrageous, because we have gone around the world, even to the north of England, just to scan women in game," he told the ABC. "Eighty per cent of our sponsorship money goes to women's sport. We take it extraordinarily seriously. "We actually travelled to capture NRLW players specifically in captures up to Townsville and everywhere. "They were told, 'Please, please be at the shoot because if you're not at the shoot, you won't look like you'. We were very clear. Symons said Big Ant Studios would be attending the NRLW Magic Round to conduct more facial scans to add to the game. "We have offered to capture as many players who would like to sit in the chair. And sitting in the chair takes 45 seconds," he said. Rugby League 26 was highly anticipated, as it came eight years after the last iteration, Rugby League Live 4. Cherrington described the game as "half-finished", while social media was flooded with gamers reporting glitches and errors. Symons said some of the issues stemmed from a compressed rollout timeline, which required the developers to submit the game for disc printing two months before the launch date. He also said that despite calls from the public, delaying was "not an option we were given" and that online multiplayer feature issues were temporary. "Then the product we want people to have is ready with a day one patch, because things change," he said "Even in sport itself, just the nature of sport where things change, where rosters change, injuries occur, ratings change." Big Ant was also criticised for its inability to manage demand on its servers, which locked players out for hours. Symons said the demand for the game was six times higher than expected, and said it had outsold video game franchise members Assassin's Creed: Shadows, Death Stranding 2: On The Beach and Donkey Kong Bananza. "It is number one by a margin and our servers also had that problem." Despite the backlash about Rugby League 26 from users, the fact there is a game for a code played predominantly in just three countries is noteworthy. A large part of that, and the reason for an eight-year hiatus, was the commercial viability of making a game for a relatively small market. Big Ant Studios was the recipient of the Digital Games Tax Offset (DGTO), introduced in 2023 to encourage local game development studio investment in Australia, which allows companies to claim back 30 per cent of qualified Australian expenditure. This funding model is similar to other schemes designed to encourage local filmmaking, and Symons says this program "allows us to take risks that we otherwise couldn't take". "The world would call the AFL, the same with NRL and to some extent cricket, a niche sport. It's our lifeblood and we love it, but no one else wants to make these sports games. "That's where the DGTO really, really does help, it enables to tell Australian stories and in particular, Australian sport because I don't think Australian sport gets a title if it's not for things like the DGTO because it just becomes not commercially viable." Big Ant Studios also made the AFL and cricket video games, as well as a tennis game based around the Australian Open. The Sydney Roosters were approached for comment but did not respond before publication.
ABC News
33 minutes ago
- ABC News
Work demands a blow for sporting clubs in Queensland's once booming mining towns
It's Saturday afternoon in the small, rural mining town of Tieri in central Queensland and the local footy field at Langerak Park should be packed. The Peak Downs Pirates Rugby League Club is the social fabric of this 700-person town, and fans would normally be hustling to get a prime spot next to the bar, where they could flip open their camp chairs and cheer. But today, there is no game. "I've cried and I'm looking at grown men with tears in their eyes," said long-serving Pirates committee member Samantha Reinke, as she looks over an empty field from the clubhouse and grassed hill. The combination of two mines closing, seven-day rosters and a dwindling population have led to the club folding. "Everybody looked forward to a home game and a lot of people also followed us to the other towns as well, which can be up to two and a half hour's drive," Ms Reinke said. "That's all gone now and there's nothing else to do, so it's very demoralising for the community to lose something like this." The town of Tieri, about 900 kilometres north-west of Brisbane, was established in 1983 as a service centre for the three local coal mines open at the time. Now there's just one. The Glencore-owned Oaky Creek North Coal Mine in Tieri employs about 800 workers and is one of the most productive underground coal operations in the Bowen Basin. But with each new census, Tieri's population declines due to the impacts of fly-in fly-out (FIFO) work. Half of the mine's workforce is FIFO and as the town shrinks, its sporting clubs are rapidly disappearing. Once a hive of sporting activity, touch football, hockey, soccer, gymnastics, indoor cricket, tennis and lawn bowls are all things of the past. The Pirates are the latest casualty. The disappointment and heartbreak are echoed by club president Mitch Reinke and coach Ben Liddell. "We had over 50 people registered to play this season, which was promising, but with injuries and shift work it was very challenging," Mr Reinke said. Before the agonising decision to fold, the Pirates could only field five players for their last match. Mr Liddell was devastated. Pirates diehards hope at some stage in the future the club can be resurrected and return to its glory days. Queensland's Central Highlands are the cattle and coal capital of Australia, and in the neighbouring town of Capella, it is a similar story. The race club and bowls club no longer exist while the tennis club is barely surviving. "Tennis started in about the 1930s here with two ant-bed courts," said Capella Tennis Club's Cathy Murray. "In 1981, we started night fixtures and it was every night of the week and we had 100 people playing but it slowed down during COVID and we couldn't get any tennis players back to play." The introduction of pickleball this year has the kept the gates to the now six courts open. Andrew Jansen is a karate instructor on the Central Highlands and teaches classes in Capella and in nearby Emerald. He said roster cycles and cost-of-living were the main impacts behind a decline in numbers. "The bigger hours people are working, quite often we'll get a phone call to say, 'We can't make it, I'm at work still.'" According to researchers, country clubs and competitions are coming under increased pressure from not only the fluctuating presence of workers and financial strain, but also population drift and impacts on rural life. Dean Miller, a senior lecturer in psychology at CQUniversity, said social sport and sporting clubs were the hub of small, close-knit communities. "The engagement in community and getting more people into sports out there can really help the morale and engagement with social circles … and sport is a really great avenue to do that," Dr Miller said. Participation in sports-related activities offered significant mental and health benefits for FIFO workers, he said. "It can be quite difficult to follow through on those commitments as players or as officials and that will fluctuate depending on their availability and how their workload is at that certain period of time. "We know in terms of mental health and health in general, engaging in physical exercise and activity with social sporting groups or competitive sporting clubs, it's really important." As small communities across the country feel the pain of dwindling numbers and seek solutions to the effects of swing shifts, people such as Samantha Reinke are determined to keep theirs alive. "My goal is to create awareness and perhaps get the NRL [National Rugby League] involved more in helping out the smaller communities," she said. "It would be good to have some sort of incentive for players to come out here and play because it would just boost the town's morale."
News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
Wallabies vs British and Irish Lions: Third Test preview, how to watch
This Lions tour was said to be the first step of Rugby Australia turning a $36.8 million deficit into a profit. That may still be the case, with tens of thousands of touring fans pouring through the turnstiles for all three Tests. But where will a series whitewash leave the game as a whole in Australia? Aussies love a winner, but the Wallabies haven't been doing much of that recently. The U8s running around suburban grounds in Sydney and Brisbane don't care about RA's bank balance. They want to see their heroes winning games and lifting trophies. That's the only way to ensure the next generation grows up throwing a Gilbert around rather than a Steeden or a Sherrin. JOSEPH-AUKUSO SUAALII'S BEST POSITION Suaalii has played well enough on attack – his break to set up Tom Wright's try in Melbourne last weekend was a perfect example. But he has repeatedly been caught out defensively. At times, so has his midfield partner Len Ikitau, who has been moved to inside centre rather than his preferred spot at outside to accommodate Suaalii. Despite growing calls for Suaalii to be switched to the wing so the Wallabies can select a proven centre pairing of Hunter Paisami and Len Ikitau, head coach Joe Schmidt is sticking with his same midfield combo for game three but he can expect some criticism if it doesn't work out. THE BENCH Harry Potter's injury was a hiccup – and the Lions have much more depth that Australia – but Andy Farrell's supporters will argue that he also out-coached Joe Schmidt at the Melbourne Cricket Ground last weekend. Owen Farrell came on in the final quarter and provided an instant impact, off the ball as much as on it. Meanwhile, Ben Donaldson – who has several years more experience at Test level than Tom Lynagh - was left stranded on the bench as Australia desperately tried to hang on but couldn't, raising questions about Schmidt's tactics. Strangely, Schmidt picked a 6-2 forwards-backs split for Melbourne in the belief that it would rain, but when there wasn't a drop in the sky, it gave the Lions the advantage because they went with a traditional 5-3 split. But this week, with heavy showers forecast for Accor Stadium, the Lions have added an extra forward as a precaution for the weather while the Wallabies have returned to the 5-3 split they abandoned last week. THE WHISTLEBLOWERS Georgian referee Nika Amashukeli and his assistants will be under intense scrutiny this week after the controversial ending to the second Test when the match officials opted against penalising the Lions' backrower Jac Morgan for his clean-out on Carlo Tizzano. Schmidt launched a blistering attack over the ruling, saying it went against the game's pledge to player safety, which drew a sharp rebuke from World Rugby, which is trying to protect referees from the vile abuse they sometimes cop on social media. Regardless, with matches regularly stopped while Television Match Officials pore over replays of contentious incidents, the whistleblowers will be under more pressure than usual this weekend. TACKLE, TACKLE, TACKLE All the complaining in the world won't change the result from the first two matches but there is one area that might make a difference if they fix things up. When the Wallabies were the best team in the world, the cornerstone of their success was their outstanding defence. When they last won the World Cup, in 1999, they famously conceded just one try in six matches in the entire tournament. But in the two Tests against the Lions so far, they have given up eight tries, three in Brisbane then five in Melbourne, while also repeatedly falling off tackles. In Brisbane, the Wallabies missed 29 tackles in an eight point loss then missed 23 tackles in their three point loss in Melbourne. If they can plug those holes, they won't need to worry about blaming officials because they might just win.
