Antino silenced any doubts about his staying ability on Saturday with a commanding win in the Group 2 Hollindale Stakes (1800m) at the Gold Coast, giving trainer Tony Gollan fresh hope ahead of the Brisbane Winter Carnival.

Coming off a less-than-stellar performance in his previous attempt at the trip, Antino showed his class with a 3-1/2 length demolition of a strong field, bouncing back in style and stamping his credentials as a genuine middle-distance force.

“I have never really trained him to get a trip until this prep,” Gollan explained. “I always had him pinned as a miler, but we’ve put in all the groundwork with him from the minute he got back from Hong Kong.”

“We might dare to go to the Q22 with him after the Doomben Cup. His pedigree has always indicated he’d handle the distance, so it felt like the right time to test him.”

The $9 shot now heads to the $1 million Doomben Cup as a $4 second favourite, trailing only Pride Of Jenni, who holds top billing at $3.50 with online bookmakers.

Fawkner Park ($19) ran into second place, half a length ahead of Kovalica, while Buckaroo—sent out as the $3.80 favourite—faded badly to finish 10th, beaten nearly 18 lengths.

Jockey Blake Shinn, back aboard Antino for the first time since their Hong Kong venture, executed a bold plan on the heavy surface and was pleased with the outcome.

“We had to come up with a plan to try to win the race, I trust this horse and I have a lot of confidence in Tony as a trainer,” Shinn said.

“He told me it’s the fittest the horse has ever been, he told me to ride the horse as he likes to be ridden and keep him comfortable and balanced, and fortunately it paid off.”

With the Hollindale Stakes being the penultimate race of the day, the Gold Coast meeting was ultimately abandoned after persistent rain forced the cancellation of the final event, the Bat Out Of Hell.

Antino’s emphatic win now makes him a key player in the Queensland carnival. For full odds and racing specials, check out our updated betting sites list.