Emerging gelding Ceolwulf has turned trainer Joe Pride’s afternoon on its head with a barnstorming victory in one of Randwick’s most famous mile races.
Pride was downtrodden after deciding to have Everest champion Think About It ridden quietly in the Premiere Stakes (1200m), only for his stablemates Coal Crusher to lope in front at a leisurely speed, putting Think About It (sixth) in a virtually impossible position to win.
But all was forgotten two races later as Ceolwulf stormed down the outside to deliver the Warwick Farm trainer his fourth feature Randwick mile and his second Epsom Handicap (1600m).
“After the best exhibition of reverse team riding that you have ever seen, it was a big relief,” Pride said.
“We knew he had the right sort of profile coming into it and to see him let down like that, it’s very, very satisfying.
“He’s just a good horse on the rise. He’s just going to keep getting better with age and he’s so exciting. That was a real buzz.”
Ceolwulf was Group 1 placed in the Rosehill Guineas (2000m) and ATC Australian Derby (2400m) in the autumn and following his last-start second in the Kingston Town Stakes (2000m), Pride toyed with extending him to 2400m for Saturday’s Metropolitan.
Instead, he opted to bring Ceolwulf back in journey and got the result, capturing his second Epsom since Private Eye in 2021.
Pride was unsure where the horse would go next but said he could back-up in next weekend’s Hill Stakes (1900m) or go to the King Charles III Stakes (1600m) in a fortnight.
The Epsom triumph gave Chad Schofield his first major since the 2014 Queensland Derby on Sonntag and his fifth overall.
He also joined his jockey father Glyn on the Epsom honour roll, Schofield senior capturing it aboard Boban 11 years ago.
While it had been a while between drinks, Chad Schofield spent seven years of that decade in Hong Kong and felt he was still getting his foothold in the competitive Sydney riding ranks.
“I’ve only been back in Australia for two full seasons, so although that was my last Australian Group One, I was in Hong Kong for seven years and they’re hard to win over there,” Schofield said.
“I still feel like I’m finding my feet here back in Australia, but I’m so thankful to Joe and his stable for giving me the opportunity today.
“I was really blown away by his turn of foot. I know he had 54 kilos, but he put the race away very quickly. As soon as I clicked him up, I was confident I was the winner immediately. He had a blistering turn of foot.”
Ceolwulf ($4 fav) scored by 1-1/4 lengths over Tom Kitten ($12) with Royal Patronage ($6.50) another three-quarters of a length away third.
Schofield celebrated a black-type double at the meeting after winning the Group 3 Gimcrack Stakes (1000m) aboard Bel Merci, while apprentice Zac Lloyd took riding honours with a treble, highlighted by his Flight Stakes (1600m) victory on Lady Shenandoah.
Lloyd narrowly missed making it four when Zardozi went down in a head-bobbing finish to Land Legend in the Group 1 Metropolitan.
