Joe Pride with his striking gelding Terravista (Photo courtesy of The Daily Telegraph) |
Joe Pride
believes the top-flight sprinters will up the ante in the 1200m $2.5 million TJ
Smith Stakes. The race is headlined by the return of the sprinting trio in the
Pride trained Terravista, The Hawkes brother’s Chautauqua, and Mick Price’s
Lankan Rupee. All three horses have battled it out before and Pride was adamant
the race will be very different to the last time they met in the Newmarket
Handicap.
“I think
there’s going to be a pretty genuine tempo on and that will be good, that will
give all the horses a chance.
“They’re all quality horses, they all want a good tempo, and that’s what we’ll get Saturday and it’s something we didn’t get in the Newmarket,” Pride said.
Terravista,
currently ranked as the world’s best sprinter, has been Pride’s best asset over
the last three years, amassing an incredible 9 wins from 14 starts. The
five-year-old gelding ran first up last start in the Newmarket finishing a
flattening third, and jockey Hugh Bowman sighted the progress that could be
made in the sprinter.
“He was
found out today, but he was first up, he’ll take improvement and it was a very
good effort,” Bowman said.
Despite the disappointment
of the Newmarket result, Bowman listed Terravista as his ‘linchpin’ for the
autumn carnival and he’ll get the opportunity again, with Terravista drawn from
barrier 10.
Pride is
happy to have his star back in Sydney with the gelding currently unbeaten at
Randwick in four starts. The trainer shares a unique relationship with his
horse, alleviating him through training because of his casual approach on the
training track.
“He doesn’t
take it seriously at all, which I’ve learnt to work around and adjust to
because I don’t like flogging horses on the track,” Pride said.
“He gets to
the line, just drops a bit and is pretty much pulled up to a walk about 20
metres after the post.”
Despite
being described as a “very casual track worker” by his own trainer, Terravista
turns it on when it matters most, which is all Pride is concerned about.
“He gives me
his best on race day, that’s part of our agreement. He does that while I leave
him alone on the track, it’s part of our understanding.”
Warwick
Farm-based Pride, has three horses in the open-aged sprint with Terravista
being joined by stable mates Rain Affair and Tiger Tees. The race will likely
be affected by wet-weather on Saturday and Pride thinks that will only enhance
his horses’ chances.
“Chautauqua’s probably the least proven [in the wet], and they [Rain Affair and Tiger Tees] wouldn’t have a hope against him [Terravista] if it wasn’t in the wet, so it definitely brings them into it.”
The TJ Smith
Stakes looks like it will be another hotly contested battle between the top
three sprinters in Chautauqua, Terravista and Lakan Rupee who hold the first
three lines of betting respectively. Gai Waterhouse’s mare Sweet Idea is
considered the other best chance in the race with one of the world’s best
jockey’s Joao Moreira taking up the ride.