Racing: Katsidis to ride Tinseltown in Queensland Cup

BRISBANE - Top Queensland jockey Stathi Katsidis will take over from Damian Oliver on Caloundra Cup runner-up Tinseltown, one of possibly three runners for Melbourne trainer Mike Moroney in the Queensland Cup at Eagle Farm tomorrow.

Calatrava and Prix Du Sang might also back up after finishing well back at Caloundra.

Moroney said Oliver gave a glowing report on Tinseltown's effort and recommended he push on to the cup with the Pentire gelding.

"Damian is confident he'll run the distance," Moroney said.

"His effort up there was good, he was trapped wide and still went to the line well.

"Of the three horses, I think Tinseltown is the one more likely to run it out, but you never know."

Moroney said he would make a gear change with Prix Du Sang by taking blinkers off the mare and adding a tongue tie.

South Auckland trainer Craig Ritchie is hoping to end his winter "holiday" with a cup victory with former rogue Solid Billing. Ritchie has been in Brisbane since early May when he arrived with just Solid Billing to contest the staying races.

"I only brought one horse with me and it's been the best holiday for nearly three months I've ever had," Ritchie said.

He has some reservations whether Solid Billing can stay the 3200m of the cup but takes confidence from rider Eddie Wilkinson's opinion after the gelding's fifth to Ironstein in the Caloundra Cup last Saturday.

Wilkinson allowed Solid Billing to lead by more than six lengths in the middle stages before the stayer faded in the straight.

"Eddie is confident the horse can run 3200m but I'm only 50:50," Ritchie said. "It was a good run at Caloundra but I didn't expect Eddie to go that fast on him and I didn't think Our Lukas would chase us like he did.

"Eddie rode him the right way as he's the type of horse that needs to roll along. If Our Lukas hadn't chased us like he did then I believe we might have run a place."

Ritchie has been training on his own for the past four years and brought Solid Billing across the Tasman to win the group three Summer Cup (2400m) at Randwick on Boxing Day.

Ritchie was training in partnership with his father, Frank, when Wilkinson was an apprentice with the stable. "He won a South Australian Derby and another group one for us at home on Showella."

Ritchie, who has a team of 25 horses in work in New Zealand, is yet to train a group one winner since branching out on his own but did win several alongside his father.

"When I was with Dad we won about seven or eight group ones together but I haven't won one yet Ritchie rates Solid Billing a similar type of stayer to Gorgeous George who the Ritchies trained when he was runner-up to Art Success in the Brisbane Cup (3200) in 2006.

"He's very similar to Gorgeous George who liked to roll along in front and he's come a long way since he had a few issues as a young horse," he said.

Ritchie rates Tinseltown the main threat to him landing his first Queensland winner with Solid Billing.

"Tinseltown is certainly the best horse in the field but there's some doubt whether he can run the journey," he said.

- AAP