Ben Dorries hands out his awards from the 2025 Queensland winter carnival
Our man has identified the best Queensland winter performers and also gone off Broadway for some of the carnival's most quirky and colourful moments.
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BEST ACTOR
Humble hobby trainer Craig Cousins gets the Tom Cruise award for being the winter carnival's leading man. His home-bred hero The Inflictor may not have won the Stradbroke Handicap. But the story of the truck driving trainer with a handful of horses, one of which qualified for the $3m Stradbroke, will go down in carnival folklore. Cousins trains from stables out the back of his mum's house and he enjoyed every moment of Stradbroke week, even buying himself a new suit for the occasion. After The Inflictor won a Listed race, he went out of his way to thank the media and everyone else for the wonderful magic carpet ride he had been on. A real character and a gentleman.
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BEST NEW TALENT
When Cool Archie won a couple of two-year-old races at the start of the carnival, it didn't really turn the dial. And there were a few sniggers when Chris Munce nominated the Group 1 JJ Atkins as the winter goal for his young colt. After all, racegoers in these parts are used to local heroes being overrun by big names like Waller and Cummings when they come to town. But he who laughs last, laughs longest. Munce and his son Corey, along with prominent owner Max Whitby, were celebrating when Cool Archie won five straight including the JJ Atkins. Unless Sydney bias kicks in, the sensational youngster should be a lock for Australian 2YO of the year honours.
What a run, what a horse â�ï¸�
Cool Archie takes out the G1 Ladbrokes JJ Atkins for Team Munce & Martin Harley ðŸ'� pic.twitter.com/cEB6dTOxuP
— Ladbrokes Australia (@ladbrokescomau) June 14, 2025
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BEST PICTURE
When Antino scored the Hollindale Stakes and the Group 1 Doomben Cup by as far as you could kick your hat. Wins the best picture gong as there were literally no other horses in the finish picture on either occasion. Tony Gollan collects training premierships and big races for fun – but this was his crowning moment. Antino can be a quirky horse and turning him from a sprinter-miler into a middle distance/stayer was a magical effort that David Copperfield would have been proud of. Queensland's champion trainer will have plenty of spring fun with Antino, who is the second betting pick in the Cox Plate behind Via Sistina.
In case you missed it!
Antino was a brilliant winner of the Group One Doomben Cup this morning... 🤯 pic.twitter.com/DVpQrydJgO
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) May 24, 2025
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BEST CASTING
Young Queensland jockey Angela Jones as a marquee winter carnival performer. The jockey who grew up in outback Queensland might not have won a Group 1, although she did get within a whisker when Zarastro led until the shadows of the post in the Kingsford Smith Cup. But she won five feature races, including for Gai Waterhouse and for the royal blue of Godolphin, and she more than held her own against the big name southern jockeys who ventured north. Won four straight races on Floozie and it wasn't her fault the mare was a beaten favourite in the Group 1 Tatt's Tiara. Should win the Brisbane jockeys' premiership. We will look back at the 2025 winter carnival as being the making of her on the big stage.
Floozie brains them in the G2 Dane Ripper Stakes! ðŸ'¥ @tonygollan pic.twitter.com/raJPcbb1Ky
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 14, 2025
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BEST PERFORMANCE
While Antino and Cool Archie both had claims, the gong goes to Joliestar. The mare's truly incredible triumph in the Group 1 Kingsford Smith Cup had to be seen to be believed. On a day where it was close to impossible to make too much ground from back, Chris Waller 's glamour girl came from so far off them to win that it looked like she had been shot out of a cannon. There was a freeze-frame of the race with 100m or so to go posted on social media, and you deadset would have bet $101 about Joliestar winning. It might not have been a vintage field, but the manner of her win suggested a big spring carnival and potentially redemption in The Everest is coming.
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
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ROCKY BALBOA GOLDEN GLOVES
The jockeys' room blue between Noel Callow and Kyle Wilson-Taylor was the bust-up of the carnival. It did what many of the actual races could not – get global headlines. The bad blood had been bubbling for a while but at the end of the day it was probably half a storm in a teacup. It won't be long before 'King' Callow has served his ban and returns to the races.
Noel Callow has been banned over an altercation with a rival jockey, a penalty which could be reduced if he completes an anger management course, reports @bendorries76. https://t.co/nc6NvryWNB
— Racenet (@RacenetTweets) June 12, 2025
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RISING STAR
War Machine was the Stradbroke Handicap favourite from the moment he made a mess of his rivals in the Group 3 BRC Sprint. Some (including me) would say that backing a $3.20 favourite in the Stradbroke is a quick way to the poor house. But War Machine did it comfortably and could be one right out of the box. The late, great Mike Moroney identified him as a must-have horse and he has started to live up to what Moroney always thought he promised. Bring on the spring, as the penny hasn't even dropped yet.
War Machine WINS the G1 Stradbroke Handicap! �
Tim Clark with a flawless performance in the saddle! pic.twitter.com/oDuyB1gLJN
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 14, 2025
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BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Former Irishman Tom Sherry cracked his first Group 1 when he scored the Tatt's Tiara on Tashi and quickly paid tribute to his long-term partner Danika Losty. Losty has been there through Sherry's darkest times – even when he copped a drug ban as an 18-year-old in his Irish homeland. Sherry arrived in Australia without a job and with his passion for racing wavering, but Losty never lost faith and kept urging him to follow his racing dreams even when he was working on a building site erecting temporary fences. Bravo.
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