A small but noticeable change has delivered the right result for trainer Joe Pride as Superium earned his ticket to the Magic Millions 3YO Guineas with a Randwick win.
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Frustrated with his stable’s run of luck, Pride decided to channel old boss and mentor John Size and replace all his brown race-day bridles with red ones.
The new gear was implemented for the first time on Saturday and after Superium’s success in the CES Handicap (1100m), Pride said the red bridles would stay.
“I just haven’t had much luck of late and thought I needed something a bit different so I put the old Johnny Size red bridles on,” Pride said.
“We’ve got a good plan to get him to the Gold Coast and I think the 1400 will really suit him.
“His strapper calls him the ‘ginger ninja’ and that’s probably about where he’s at. He is a very talented horse.”
First up since September, Superium was backed to start a $2.80 second favourite and once Nash Rawiller was able to manoeuvre into the clear halfway up the straight, the horse did the rest.
He arrived in time to beat Embracer ($9) by a neck with Splintex ($2.70 fav) another short neck away in a driving finish.
Superium was first past the post in the Up And Coming Stakes in August but lost the race on protest and Pride said that worked in the three-year-old’s favour on Saturday.
“He was in well today because of that. He was probably a Group Three winner thrown into a benchmark race,” Pride said.
“He is one of those horses who got to the races as a two-year-old, not because he was precocious but because he had a lot of ability and I think we’re going to see the best of him this preparation.”
