Collett looks to bounce back for another memorable Carrington victory

1 month ago 4

By Craig Kerry

January 22, 2026 — 5.00pm

Jockey Jason Collett is eyeing a third Carrington Stakes win at Randwick after bouncing back quickly from a frightening fall at the Magic Millions meeting last Saturday.

And Randwick trainer Peter Snowden believes Collett’s mount, Fire Star, is showing the toughness to give the combination victory on Saturday.

Fire Star and Jason Collett, left, finish a close second to Hidden Wealth last start in the Falvelon at Eagle Farm.

Collett was lucky to escape serious injury when Greg Hickman-trained Private Legacy clipped heels and fell in the Magic Millions Subzero at the Gold Coast on Saturday. He was stood down from the rest of the program and missed the Kensington meeting on Wednesday, but was back at Warwick Farm trials and Kembla Grange races on Thursday.

“It looked awful and I was very fortunate to walk away from it relatively unscathed,” Collett said on Wednesday.

“I’ve got nothing broken, but there’s a few niggles all over the body.”

His first trial back on Thursday was a win with Stefi Magnetica, which he claimed the Doncaster Mile with last year. He said the Bjorn Baker-trained mare and Richard Litt’s Caffe Florian were among his most exciting autumn carnival prospects.

On Saturday, Collett is back aboard Fire Star, which he took to a close second last start behind Hidden Wealth in the Magic Millions Falvelon (1200m) at Eagle Farm on December 27. Collett rode four winners on the program.

Fire Star was a $7 TAB chance in the $200,000 Carrington Stakes (1400m), which will be the five-year-old Deep Field gelding’s first run beyond 1200m. The runner-up effort last start was Collett’s first race ride on Fire Star, which has six wins and nine placings in 24 starts.

“Fire Star is going well and obviously he went very close in Queensland,” Collett said.

“He’s since had a trial and he trialled well and he’s in good form. He’s best ridden handy with cover.”

The race has fond memories for Collett, who won it in 2020 with Cradle Mountain, which was trained by his wife, Clare. He also won in 2016 with Matt Smith’s Zin Zan Eddie.

“I’ve had good success in it,” he said.

“Cradle Mountain was a bit of a stable pet. He’s still out at Clare’s family’s farm down at Melbourne.

“It was one of the highlights of her career, and she won a few stakes races that year. I think he was the second horse we ever had, so it meant a fair bit to us.”

Jason Collett drives Cradle Mountain to victory in the 2020 Carrington Stakes.

Snowden believed Fire Star was shaping up well for the race fourth up.

“It’s his first try at seven furlongs but he’s been racing with a fair bit of toughness about him lately, and it was a great run in Brisbane the other day,” Snowden said.

“He draws to get the right run, there looks to be speed in the race. He likes to stalk good speed, as was the case last start, and he hangs tough.

“He ran second in the benchmark 100 on the Hunter day first-up at Newcastle and they ran a similar time to the Hunter, so he’s worth a try.”

David Pfieffer’s Whinchat was the $3.50 favourite.

Snowden also liked the chances of Applaud ($4.40, race six) and Hopper ($10, four) at Randwick. All four of Applaud’s wins have come on rain-affected ground. Randwick had improved from heavy to a soft 5 this week.

“His last couple of runs have been on good tracks and they have been solid runs,” Snowden said.

“It’s not the be-all and end-all, he just has an added advantage if it does rain.

“He’s going well, a good rider [James McDonald] aboard, he’s had a month since his last start and he races well fresh.

“Hopper, his run first-up was great. He just knocked up the last 50 metres and wasn’t beaten far. He’s second up here, so there’s room for improvement and he doesn’t have to improve much to win.”