Joe Pride has set himself two short-term goals and he is determined to have one of them ticked off by the end of Saturday’s Rosehill meeting.
The trainer is in the midst of a rare run of outs – he has had 45 metropolitan runners since his last Sydney winner, Missvonn, at Rosehill on May 30.
And doesn’t he know it.
“I’m a terrible loser,” Pride said.
“I can’t remember it happening in the past. I’ve run a heap of seconds and I think the horses are racing ok but there’s not a lot of depth in the quality of the team there at the moment, and I say that with all respect to the owners that have horses with me at the moment.”
Pride is hoping See The World can end the stable’s dry spell when he has his fourth run back from a lengthy break in the Listed Civic Stakes (1350m).
A victory would also go some way towards securing Pride’s second goal, which is to hold down fourth place on the Sydney trainers’ premiership.
The stable has produced 41 city winners this season behind only Chris Waller, John O’Shea and Gai Waterhouse, an effort he is proud of given his smaller numbers.
“We can’t beat the three big guns there but if we can run fourth it’s like winning the premiership for us, so I’m pretty keen to hold on to that spot,” Pride said.
The trainer will saddle up four runners at Rosehill including favourite Missvonn who will back up in the More Than Ready @ Vinery Handicap.
However, the trainer spoke with most confidence about See The World, a $9 chance for the feature race.
The horse closed late for third last start in the Winter Dash at Randwick and Pride said a return to Rosehill where the horse had posted four wins was significant.
“He’s in terrific order, I think his runs have been good and he’s been screaming out for this trip,” Pride said.
“Hughie Bowman jumps on, he gets a soft track and he loves Rosehill.”
