Joe Pride has been heartened by the performances of a horse from a rival yard this season as he begins to plot a spring carnival path for stable flag bearer Ceolwulf.
The Warwick Farm conditioner watched with interest as Antino thumped his rivals in the Hollindale Stakes (1800m) and Doomben Cup (2000m) over the Queensland winter, the efforts elevating the Tony Gollan-trained galloper to the second line of early Cox Plate markets behind Via Sistina.
While Antino has always shown talent, it has been as a five and six-year-old that he has found his groove and Pride believes Ceolwulf is on a similar trajectory.
“I was watching Antino this preparation and he has just found this level of consistency and I remember him when he was at the same age as Ceolwulf. He was a bit inconsistent,” Pride said.
“He’d have a good prep then a bad prep. These horses just need to fully mature and when they do, that’s when they really find a vein of form where they always run well.”
Antino is two years the senior of rising five-year-old Ceolwulf, who Pride can see following a similar trajectory.
The latter announced himself as a top talent winning the Epsom Handicap (1600m) and King Charles III Stakes (1600m) last spring, heightening expectations for the autumn.
But while he was competitive in several major races he couldn’t add to his Group 1 tally.
Pride expects that to change over the coming seasons as Ceolwulf continues to develop and mature.
“He didn’t run any bad races in the autumn but he paid the price for having won a couple of Group Ones,” Pride said.
“There were no easy races for him. All of a sudden he was against the big boys all the time. But he is a top shelf horse.
“He is up around 530 to 540 (kilos) now so he will race heavier again this prep.
“He is coming along nicely. I haven’t got a trial date for him yet but he will resume in the Winx Stakes.”
The first of the Group trials will be at Warwick Farm on July 25 with the Group 1 Winx Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on August 23.
Pride also confirmed this week that he had picked up 2024 Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) winner El Castello, who hasn’t raced since finishing fifth in last year’s Victoria Derby (2500m).
