Latest news with #JoePride
News.com.au
13 hours ago
- Sport
- News.com.au
Trainer Joe Pride expects another bold showing from 2025 Civic Stakes favourite Headley Grange
Trainer Joe Pride is yet to find Headley Grange's ceiling but expects the bombproof galloper will be up to the challenge of Saturday's Listed $200,000 Civic Stakes (1400m) at Royal Randwick. Pride will launch a three-pronged attack in the feature with Headley Grange the clear pick of the litter in the main event of the 10-race card alongside Cool Jakey and Estadio Mestalla. Headley Grange has been a revelation for Pride over the past 12 months and hasn't finished worse than second in nearly a year with four wins in his past eight starts. The son of Exosphere was a well-backed favourite when scoring first-up from a break with a strong victory in Benchmark 94 grade at Randwick. 'I can't remember the last time he missed the place, he is very honest and genuine,' Pride said. 'I think he is one of those ones where you don't need the trainer to recommend him to punters. I am sure they will all pile in. 'He is the clear favourite for a reason, very consistent. I guess if you have to pick holes in what he has to do on Saturday, it's his first time in Listed grade so that has to be against him. 'The conditions of the track are neither here nor there for him. He goes just as well on wet or dry. 'The 1400m is spot on so there's seemingly not many chinks in his armour.' Headley Grange wins first up to give @PrideRacing a Randwick double! 🙌 @aus_turf_club — SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 7, 2025 The Civic Stakes will be the first time in his 17-start career that Headley Grange has been tested in stakes grade but Pride believes his four-year-old is more than worthy of the opportunity. Headley Grange has been one of the most consistent horses in Pride's stable and has continued on an upward trajectory. 'He could well go to another level. I figure he has a ceiling there somewhere,' Pride said. 'He has got the engine there and he won like a Listed race would be well within his mark. He is a going well.' Headley Grange, to be ridden by Jason Collett, is the $2.70 favourite for the Civic Stakes with Cool Jakey at $10 and Estadio Mestalla at $23. Cool Jakey is dropping back in trip with Reece Jones aboard after leading from the front and tiring late in a mile event at Randwick a fortnight ago. • Ray & Duff's Randwick tips: Punters should plan their Exit on Saturday 'It was a mile race and he was OK at the mile on a leaderish track two starts ago but last start at a mile at the pace he went it was too far for him,' Pride said. 'Back 200m here. He has been fortunate enough to race on some wet tracks of late and it's been to his advantage. 'Saturday will be the driest he has had. It could be an issue for him.' While Estadio Mestalla is the outsider of Pride's trio, he's expecting an improved effort from the gelding. Estadio Mestalla finished five lengths off Headley Grange first-up from a break with Chad Schofield to take over the ride. 'He will run much better than his place in the market suggests,' Pride said. 'I can't quite put my finger on what happened to him first-up but he has pulled up well and is a horse that is very capable at this level. 'He has run second in a Little Dance and placed in this race last year. 'I am not asking him to do anything he hasn't before and I think he can get back to that form on Saturday.' He will saddle up another in-form galloper when Storm The Ramparts ($4.20) goes in search of a third consecutive victory in the Asahi Super Dry Benchmark 78 Handicap (1000m). Storm The Ramparts will have to lug the topweight of 61.5kg after scoring back-to-back victories at the same venue this prep. 'He keeps creeping up in the weights but weights in 1000m races don't matter as much,' Pride said. 'I am happy with him. He is honest and genuine. 'He is another one that has been able to hit those soft and heavy tracks at those last three runs. 'Coming back to a track that is a soft 5 is he disadvantaged? Probably.'
The Age
a day ago
- Sport
- The Age
Pride aims to break down barriers for more winter success at Randwick
Joe Pride believes there is a 'culture of scratching' because of wide barriers in Sydney racing, but maintained he is not about to follow the trend. The Warwick Farm trainer heads to Randwick on Saturday with nine runners, including two on the seven-day back-up and six with double-figure barriers, as he eyes another memorable day at the track where he had a winning treble two weeks ago. His team includes Accredited, Excelladus and second emergency Cosmonova in an extremely competitive benchmark 94 handicap (1200m) to finish the program. Accredited ($9 Sportsbet) has drawn 16, while Excelladus ($34) has gate 21. 'It's this time of the year and I have these horses up, and I'm happy to run them,' Pride said when asked if all would take their place. 'There's a bit of a culture of scratching horses in Sydney racing at the moment, but I look over the box in the morning and if the horse is fit and well, I send them around. 'Good barrier, bad barrier, you have good luck or bad luck from any of those, so I just like running the horses. That's what they are there for. They are not ornaments. 'They don't always win when you expect them to, so the more opportunities you get to run them, the better. 'My old boss [John Size], a long time ago now in Sydney, he would very rarely scratch a horse because of the barrier. So much can unfold once those barriers open … trying to second guess what's going to happen out there is fraught with danger.'
Sydney Morning Herald
a day ago
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
Pride aims to break down barriers for more winter success at Randwick
Joe Pride believes there is a 'culture of scratching' because of wide barriers in Sydney racing, but maintained he is not about to follow the trend. The Warwick Farm trainer heads to Randwick on Saturday with nine runners, including two on the seven-day back-up and six with double-figure barriers, as he eyes another memorable day at the track where he had a winning treble two weeks ago. His team includes Accredited, Excelladus and second emergency Cosmonova in an extremely competitive benchmark 94 handicap (1200m) to finish the program. Accredited ($9 Sportsbet) has drawn 16, while Excelladus ($34) has gate 21. 'It's this time of the year and I have these horses up, and I'm happy to run them,' Pride said when asked if all would take their place. 'There's a bit of a culture of scratching horses in Sydney racing at the moment, but I look over the box in the morning and if the horse is fit and well, I send them around. 'Good barrier, bad barrier, you have good luck or bad luck from any of those, so I just like running the horses. That's what they are there for. They are not ornaments. 'They don't always win when you expect them to, so the more opportunities you get to run them, the better. 'My old boss [John Size], a long time ago now in Sydney, he would very rarely scratch a horse because of the barrier. So much can unfold once those barriers open … trying to second guess what's going to happen out there is fraught with danger.'
News.com.au
3 days ago
- Sport
- News.com.au
Trainer Joe Pride's grand campaigner Private Eye is no longer sprinting towards prizemoney top 10
Trainer Joe Pride has made the honest appraisal that Private Eye's days of contesting The Everest are behind him. Private Eye, who is on the verge of breaking into the all-time top 10 prizemoney earners after his close third in the Stradbroke Handicap last Saturday, is a rising eight-year-old and Pride believes the gelding is looking for longer race distances now. 'I think his pure sprinting days are over, he is not as sharp as he used to be,'' Pride said. 'He's more of a 'miler' these days. It's funny because after he won the Queensland Guineas as a three-year-old Brenton Avdulla said we should push on to the Derby. 'But then he got faster and became a sprinter. It seems he's reverting to what he was as a younger horse.'' Private Eye won the Group 1 Epsom Handicap over the Randwick mile course as a four-year-old but then developed into one of the nation's best sprinters, contesting three successive The Everests for a second to Giga Kick in 2022, a third behind stablemate Think About It in 2023, then his close sixth to Bella Nipotina last year. But Pride's evergreen equine star continues to be competitive at the highest level with his Stradbroke placing taking his career earnings to $12,217,185 and 11th on the prizemoney rankings, moving above Think About It ($12,163,050). Private Eye will get his chance to break into the top 10 in spring with Pride looking at a possible return in the Group 1 $1 million Winx Stakes (1400m) at Royal Randwick on August 23. 'He won't have long off and I will have a think about the Missile Stakes (August 9) but maybe we go straight to the Winx Stakes fresh,'' Pride said. 'If he gets into the top 10 prizemoney earners, it will be a great achievement for the horse but it probably doesn't mean what it used to with the exaggerated levels of prizemoney these days. 'But he's done a great job during his career, he's been racing at Group level for five seasons now and is still holding his own.'' Pride said a race like the Group 1 $5 million King Charles III Stakes (1600m) at Royal Randwick on Everest Day, October 18, was a more likely spring goal for Private Eye. This is also the target for stablemate Ceolwulf, who won the Epsom Handicap-King Charles Group 1 double over the famous Randwick mile course last spring. Ceolwulf won the Neville Sellwood Stakes then was spelled after finishing fifth to champion Via Sistina in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes during autumn but is back in work at Pride's Warwick Farm stables and is also being readied for a comeback in the Winx Stakes. Epsom winner Ceolwulf with a huge run wins the G1 King Charles III Stakes in front of a record crowd at Randwick! @PrideRacing | @SchofieldChad @aus_turf_club | @WorldPool — SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) October 19, 2024 'I'm really happy with how Ceolwulf spelled, he looks great,'' Pride said. 'At this stage we have either the King Charles or the Cox Plate as his main goal, I don't think he can run in both being just a week apart. 'That is one of the holes in the program because you want to see the best horses clashing. 'When I was getting into racing in the late 1980s, you watched Vo Rogue, Super Impose and Better Loosen Up racing against each other all the time because they were the only weight-for-age races. 'But these days there is so many choices and so many races to choose from for these top horses.'' Pride said there were various options for Ceolwulf including going to Melbourne later in the spring or staying in Sydney for an extended campaign. 'If Ceolwulf runs in the King Charles, then we have the option of going to Melbourne for either the Champions Mile or Champions Stakes, or he stays home and could even go to the Five Diamonds,'' Pride said. Civic Stakes (1400m) with Accredited, Cool Jakey, Estadio Mestalla and Headley Grange.
News.com.au
09-06-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Joe Pride taking on Stradbroke Handicap history with Private Eye
Trainer Joe Pride isn't concerned by historical trends as he readies Private Eye for a remarkable bid to win the Group 1 $3m Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) at Eagle Farm on Saturday. With the withdrawal of Giga Kick, Pride's sprinter Private Eye has 57kg and will wear the No.1 saddlecloth when he goes first-up into Queensland's premier sprint. Private Eye is attempting to become the first horse this century to win the Stradbroke as topweight and without a lead-up run. • 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! Crawl won the 2001 Stradbroke off a 56-day break between runs but Private Eye will go to Eagle Farm having not started since his fourth behind Robusto in The Ingham at Randwick on December 14, last year – a gap of 182 days. 'Records are made to be broken and I don't think first-up is what it used to be,'' Pride said. 'I've also given Private Eye four barrier trials, I'm very happy with him, and he won't be beaten on the score of fitness.'' Giga Kick, who won the 2022 The Everest beating Private Eye, had 58.5kg in the Stradbroke but after finishing only sixth in Joliestar's Kingsford Smith Cup last Saturday, owner Jonathan Munz confirmed the chestnut is out of Saturday's big race. Munz said although Giga Kick seems to have pulled up well the gelding will undergo a thorough veterinary examination and won't run in Stradbroke. Private Eye is attempting to become the first horse to have the No.1 saddlecloth and shoulder 57kg or more to win the Stradbroke since Rough Habit scored under 58.5kg in 1992. 'His trial last Friday at Rosehill was everything I wanted to see from him. He jumped and put himself on the speed,'' said Pride, who won the Stradbroke with Think About It two years ago. 'He wanted to be there and that's the best version of Private Eye. He ran second in a Stradbroke three years ago (behind Alligator Blood) and I feel he's ready to run super again on Saturday.'' Private Eye, already the winner of $11.9m prizemoney, is on the third line at $11 of early TAB fixed odds betting for the Stradbroke behind the Team Hayes-trained War Machine at $2.80. Meanwhile, Pride said he has decided to give In Flight a short break after her tough win in the Bob Charley AO Stakes at Royal Randwick last Saturday. 'In Flight came out of the race really well but I'm going to give her eight to 10 days off,'' Pride said. 'The plan then is to take her to Melbourne for the (Group 3 $200,000) Sir John Monash Stakes at Caulfield (July 12). 'She should get the wet track she likes down there at that time of year.''
