Joe Pride will remind jockeys Glyn Schofield and Brenton Avdulla before the Carrington Stakes meeting that they are each only one away from chalking up a landmark 50th win for his stable at Randwick on Saturday.
Schofield will look for back-to-back wins on powerful front-runner Titanium Power in the feature Carrington Stakes, while Avdulla, who is the regular rider for Pride’s star sprinter Private Eye, takes the ride on Mach Schnell later in the afternoon.
Titanium Power will be tried at listed level for the first time in the Carrington Stakes.Credit:Getty
“It is certainly no mean feat to achieve that with good riders like those two,” Pride said. “They are long-term relationships that have been successful.
“I like to share the rides around with my stable, and I will tell them both that they are looking for 50 for me on Saturday and they don’t want to be the one left behind.”
Pride likes to match his riders to his horses, and in Schofield he has found a great judge of speed for Titanium Power, which has raced his way out of benchmark company this preparation with a couple of front-running exhibitions on soft tracks.
Schofield was at his best winning on him in benchmark 88 two weeks ago, where he controlled the race and gave his rivals no chance of running him down at Rosehill.
Titanium Power, which is joined by stablemate Snippy Fox in the Carrington, jumps into listed company for the first time on Saturday but is likely to get his favoured soft going over a suitable 1400m.
“He has been carrying 60 kilos in those wins and drops to 55.5, which is a big difference for a horse like him,” Pride said. “Glyn will make his own luck and, with the rain around, he gets his chance to become a black-type winner.
“Snippy Fox needs it to be a soft 5 to run. As you can see by her form, she’s much better on wet tracks. Her two runs this time have been good, and I think this trip will suit her; she will be running home.”
The shape of the race seems to suit Titanium Power, which should find the rails from barrier two with Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained Vreneli to his outside as he looks for a hat-trick of wins.
“My bloke should hold the lead, and I’m confident he will very strong like he was at Rosehill,” Pride said.
Punters agree with Pride’s assessment. Titanium Power is the $3.50 favourite in front of Melbourne visitor Niccolini Vito and Vreneli, and he is the start of a strong team for the Warwick Farm trainer on Saturday.
Pride was surprised about the double-figure quote about Mach Schnell, which is well into a preparation that has already netted a Randwick win over 1800m on Christmas Eve. Pride said it was best to forget about his last appearance, when he dropped out after speed battle between apprentices in the first half of the race.
“The kids just got it wrong in front and they couldn’t keep going last time. That’s why it was good to get Brenton on him,” Pride said.
“He has been racing really well. The win before that he beat Logan Street Lion, Irish Legend and Deficit that have all won their next start.
“I think he is a great price [at $18] because of one bad run and expect him to be very competitive.”
Pride has decided to put the blinkers back on handy mare Lekvarte after she had to taken back in the Belle Of The Turf and never got a chance to get into the group 3 race.
“She has had been going well and I’m kicking myself for not putting the blinkers on her last time,” Pride said. “She got too far back on a tight track, and she will be more at home at Randwick.
