By Craig Kerry
Trainer Joe Pride was disappointed to change course with Accredited towards the group 3 Southern Cross Stakes (1200m) this Saturday, after last week’s Carrington Stakes (1400m) was abandoned.
That disappointment, though, has turned to pleasant surprise this week after the field for the Southern Cross was finalised.
Accredited easily winning his most recent start, at Randwick on January 4.Credit: Getty Images
Pride lamented the loss of the Carrington Stakes at Randwick, after a lack of acceptors prompted officials to call it off. Accredited was a potential odds-on favourite for the listed $200,000 race after three wins on the trot.
The Warwick Farm trainer last week described the change to run in the Southern Cross as “plan E, it’s nowhere near as good a plan”.
“We were going to come here to race as a short-priced favourite in a listed race, we’re not doing that any more.”
However, Accredited ($2.80 Sportsbet) is set to run favourite in the $250,000 event, which attracted nine runners. Jay Ford has the ride from gate five at just 53 kilograms.
“I was a bit surprised,” Pride said.
“I thought it would come up a bit stronger and we’ll be five- or 10-1. But it’s probably come up a bit soft.
“It’s still not an easy task. He’s four weeks between runs, coming back to 1200m, but he’s a lovely, genuine, honest horse who’s racing in career-best form, so I look at the field and I can see why he’s favourite.”
Pride, enjoying a great summer with a winning strike rate of 24 per cent across his past 50 starters, hoped Accredited could handle the challenge of a makeshift lead-in.
“There was time to give him a couple more gallops, but I generally don’t like my horses having more than three weeks between runs without a trial, but there wasn’t an opportunity,” he said.
“So he’s potentially a touch soft, but when horses are coming back in trip, I think you get away with that quite often.
“If he was going up 200 or 400 metres off four weeks between runs, I’d be more concerned. It still profiles OK for him.”
Regardless of the result, Accredited has been a revelation for Pride this time in.
“He started off in the midweeks, so if you can start off there and win a group 3 at the end of your prep, it’s been a pretty solid prep. Not many do that,” Pride said.
In the fifth, Pride expected an improved run from Storm The Ramparts ($12) from gate two. He was a beaten favourite last start at Canterbury.
“He gets the blinkers back on, and that’s a big gear change for him,” he said.
“With the inside draw as well, he’ll run a bold race.
“On face value, he was disappointing last start, but he was in at Warwick Farm a week or so before that, and he was scratched at the barriers. When that happens, you’ve missed a run, so he was a bit soft.”
Meanwhile, Pride said Private Eye would have a break before preparations for a Queensland winter campaign after suffering an eye infection.
“He’s in the paddock, and I’ll probably give him a month off, and he’ll be right for the Brisbane winter, which he’s done successfully before,” he said.
Stable star Ceolwulf led all the way in his second trial on Thursday at Warwick Farm ahead of his return in the Apollo Stakes in two weeks. Likely rival Via Sistina was second, one and two-third lengths back.
