Pride Of Jenni was run down in a King Charles Stakes boilover as Joe Pride’s Ceolwulf crashed the party for Australian racing’s newest cult hero.
Pride Of Jenni was a betting drifter and couldn’t hold off a late challenge from the Epsom winner in the $5 million group 1 at Royal Randwick.
Chad Schofield wins the King Charles Stakes on Ceolwulf.Credit: Getty Images
Declan Bates set another sizzling pace on Pride Of Jenni, who wowed crowds with her runaway win in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at the same track in April, and fought off all challengers until Ceolwulf emerged from the pack and collared Ciaron Maher’s mare.
On a day when he won The Everest with Bella Nipotina and the Caulfield Cup with Duke De Sessa, Maher couldn’t quite complete the rarest of group 1 trifectas with his most favoured runner.
Ceolwulf ($6.50) delivered Chad Schofield another deserved a group 1 as the jockey timed his run to perfection to down Pride Of Jenni ($2.70f) by three-quarters-of-a-length. My Oberon ($26) was a short neck back in third.
Asked whether he thought Ceolwulf could catch Pride Of Jenni, Pride said: “I certainly did. And I said to the guys, if it doesn’t happen this year, it’ll happen next year.
“I’ve been confident he’s on that path towards being one of the best horses around. After today, he’s there. He’s on his way. I think he’s already a star.
“We gelded him. I’ll probably have some of the owners say, why did you geld him? I think he’s a better horse now as a gelding.
“But just really grateful to come across a horse like this. The world’s his oyster.”
Pride Of Jenni’s owner, Tony Ottobre, queried stewards about the tactics employed on Major Beel, which stayed wide on the track for the first couple of hundred metres, preventing Pride Of Jenni from crossing to the fence.
She eventually found the lead with Major Beel forced to cart the rest of the field up to the leader. He weakened to finish second last.
However, it did nothing to detract from the win of Ceolwulf, which could have the Golden Eagle in his sights in a fortnight.
“I was very confident in my horse,” Schofield said. “We know the stamina he’s got and we saw the turn of foot he has last start in the Epsom. It’s very rare for a horse to have both of those things, and he’s just the best-tempered horse. He’s improving all the time too, which is scary.”
Champion’s collapse overshadows Overpass win
Former Everest champion Think About It miraculously got back to his feet after collapsing on the track in front of stunned racegoers during the Sydney Stakes.
Think About It, which missed out on a slot in the $20 million race this year despite claiming the world’s richest race on turf in 2023, was in the middle of distressing scenes after appearing to wobble around the home turn and then crashing to the turf.
Overpass, ridden by Josh Parr, takes out the Sydney Stakes.Credit: Getty Images
Jockey Jason Collett managed to dismount from the horse and was uninjured, and minutes later Think About It got back to his feet after suffering a major bleeding attack. He walked back off the track to the amazement of onlookers.
The drama overshadowed an all-the-way win by Overpass in the group 3 Sydney Stakes, himself having missed out on being selected for The Everest after finishing down the track behind Think About It last year.
On Think About It, Collett said: “He lost all power and I thought he’d broken down. I just tried to stick with him for as long as I could.”
Trainer Joe Pride said: “We’ll get him home and take good care of him. I doubt we’ll ever see him race again.”
While the drama was unfolding behind the field, Overpass ran his rivals into the ground for a first-up win.
Trainer Bjorn Baker had hoped to have Overpass contest The Everest fresh, but the group 1 winner was overlooked as other horses auditioned in the crucial spring lead-ups.
“Well, look, he would have run first or second [in The Everest],” Baker said.
“We were pushing hard to get him in. It’s a pretty good consolation. We’re very lucky. I thought this race was a group 1 race in everything but status. It was a stacked field, and he’s some sort of horse.”
Josh Parr rated Overpass ($5.50) perfectly as he stormed to a 1½-length win from outsider Coal Crusher ($61), with Manikato Stakes winner Southport Tycoon ($4.60f) back in third.
“I’ve got so much faith and love for this horse,” Parr said. “It is just remarkable. When you know you can get on a horse and you know they’ll perform for you [it’s an amazing feeling].”
Far Too Easy produces comeback fairytale
Murwillumbah trainer David McColm has dreamed of winning The Kosciuszko for the past couple of years with Far Too Easy, and on Saturday the dream came true to cap a remarkable comeback fairytale.
Earlier in the year, Far Too Easy, which has run second and third in the past Kosciuszkos, fell ill with a virus and McColm and his vet were forced to give around-the-clock care.
Far Too Easy (Craig Williams) powers away to win The Kosciuszko. Credit: Getty Images
“We’ve been through a lot with this horse, he’s had his ups and downs,” McColm said. “This year he got very ill and I never ever thought we’d be back for another Kosciuszko tilt.
”He was very ill, he was. It was dire for about three days. We decided not to send him to a hospital but to treat him at home ourselves.
“My vet put in many, many hours; midnight he would turn up.
“So the whole ordeal was terrible to be a part of at that time, but he’s such a fighter.”
Far Too Easy had twice found Front Page too good on Kosciuszko day, but he was closer the third time around with jockey Craig Williams pinching runs on the fence.
When they topped the rise, Far Too Easy ($4.80) joined Front Page ($2.60 favourite) and they paired off together before the Northern Rivers star went away to win by 2¼ lengths, with Tanglewood ($16) getting home late to run third.
“All credit to Craig. He jumped on a plane, he flew up from Melbourne for his barrier trial,” McColm said. “A lot of jockeys don’t do that. He took the initiative, he wanted to be a part of it and he wanted to see what he was like in the barriers and it paid dividends today.”
Williams came to Randwick confident, which grew when he saw Far Too Easy in the mounting yard.
“That second horse is a really good horse. So it’s no mean feat. He made us half-a-kilo better than beating us last year,” Williams said. “Today our horse was just in the right shape. He just delivered, and he made my job very easy.”
Neasham lauds Shinn’s Eagle eye
Blake Shinn reads the play better than most jockeys and his forward planning landed Ostraka the Silver Eagle.
He told stewards and trainers Annabel Neasham and Rob Archibald of his plan before the race and then executed it perfectly on the $4.20 favourite to win by a half-length from Xidaki ($20) and War Machine ($9).
“It seems hard to make ground here today. Even though we were a little bit wide on speed, as opposed to going back, we thought we were better off being there than conceding a big start and making it too hard for him,” Shinn said.
“He jumped well, two horses inside and he didn’t jump the best. Tactical advantage, he had the speed from the gate and that’s what won him the race.”
Neasham credited Shinn for getting it right by being so positive.
“He came out with a plan today and said, ‘Look, if we want to win the race, we’re going to have to go forward’, and that’s what he did,” she said.
“He relaxed beautifully in front, and full credit to the horse. He’s able to do it off-speed. Last start he did it on-speed, so he’s a really progressive horse.
“He’s possibly a little query over 1500m in the Golden Eagle, but he’s won over 1400 before, so I think with the prize money on offer, we’ll certainly give him that opportunity.”
Parr pride of the stable again
A good trainer forgives, never forgets.
Joe Pride just had a last-to-first winner on The Everest day, when he turned around to winning jockey Josh Parr and said, with a smile: “That makes up for Thursday … although it wasn’t your fault”.
Winning jockey Josh Parr and Lekvarte.Credit: Getty Images
Two days after Parr lost a protest on a wayward Gunroom to concede a Hawkesbury maiden, the same trainer, same jockey and same colours combined for a sizzling win with Lekvarte in the group 3 Angst Stakes.
Lekvarte ($9), now on the cusp of the $1 million prizemoney barrier, did enough to beat Quickster ($8) with Hinged ($3.50) getting the nod for the photo in third.
“She’s electric, isn’t she? When she can get clear air like that [she goes],” Parr said. “Held up slightly and really let rip, so it was beautiful today.
“Obviously we didn’t have any speed earlier. I sort of planned to have three, maybe four behind me in the run, but it didn’t work out. But she was there for me at the finish, and as [fellow jockey] Timmy Clark and I say, ‘find a way’.”
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