Joe Pride had his game face on and did well enough to hide his disappointment over Ceolwulf missing a run in the Verry Elleegant Stakes at Randwick on Saturday.
A genuine weight-for-age contender this autumn and already a two-time Group 1 winner plus second-placed in the 2024 Australian Derby, Pride was all set for the four-year-old to again take on Via Sistina and Fangirl over the mile trip towards other Sydney Autumn Carnival features.
“We couldn’t go around this time,” Pride said.
“We had a horse ready to go in a group one and you want to run them but it was one of those fifty-fifty calls on Friday and I just wasn’t happy enough with him on race morning.”
That injury was an abrasion to the off-hind cannon which he incurred after Friday morning trackwork.
“It wasn’t too bad but it wasn’t worth the risk,” he added
Ceolwulf will now start in the Group 1 Canterbury Stakes (1300m) at Randwick this Saturday before taking on the Group 1 George Ryder Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill on March 22 where he will meet with Fangirl again.
“We are still on track to go to the Queen Elizabeth as our main aim but it might be now that we run in the Doncaster as he needs a bit of racing to get there.
“Where he was probably a less than 50% chance to go to the Doncaster Mile, now he is a better chance of going there on the way through.”
Though not all was lost after missing yesterday’s Randwick outing, Pride did his best not to show the way he really felt.
“Believe me, I am disappointed,” he said.
“I’ve just had a few more hours to get over it.”
