Trainer Joe Pride and syndicator Jamie Walter’s Proven Thoroughbreds seem certain to have an Everest double act after Private Eye’s outstanding comeback win at Royal Randwick on Saturday.
Private Eve returned to his best form beating a crack field of sprinters in the Group 2 $1m The Shorts (1100m).
It seems only a matter of time before Private Eye joins his stablemate, the Proven Thoroughbred sprinter Think About It as starters in the $20m The TAB Everest next month.
“I’m pretty confident, all things being well, I’ll have two runners in The Everest, the two horses deserve to be there,” Pride said.
“Private Eye’s an absolute chameleon. I was saying to my guys today, ‘I’ve got to stop trying to psychoanalyse this horse’ because I swore this morning he was going to come here and be a real handful, run well but be a real handful but was as quiet as a lamb.
“He’s a horse that’s run a mile, he’s a horse that’s now won a Group race over 1100m. He’s an unbelievable horse but he keeps changing and I’ve got to keep up with him as he’s changing.”
PRIVATE EYE makes a statement in the SHORTS! 💥@PrideRacing @nashhot @ProvenTbreds pic.twitter.com/OIxo712qBv
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) September 16, 2023
Private Eye firmed from $15 to $11 with stablemate Think About It at $6 for The Everest where Giga Kick remains favourite at $4.50.
Pride was then asked who was the better sprinter – Think About It, who goes by the stable name of Spud, or Private Eye, known as Spade?
“I hope I am back here in two weeks time with one that everyone keeps telling me is better than this horse,” the trainer said.
“I’m always supporting the underdog so I am a bit of a Team Spade man but that other horse (Think About It) is amazing and I just want one of them to win.
“Whether they clash in two weeks I’m not sure. I’m not worried about hem clashing in the Premiere Stakes, I just want to do the right thing by Private Eye and find the best way of getting him to The Everest.”
Private Eye ($12), who gave jockey Nash Rawiller a winning treble, mowed down early leader Overpass ($5) to win by a long head with Buenos Noches ($7.50) finishing fast for third, a half-length away.
In Secret ($3.10 favourite) ran a close and luckless fourth, just in front of Remarque and Hawaii Five Oh with that trio doing enough to stay in The Everest conversation.
Rawiller, who rode a big-race double in successive races after scoring on Think It Over in the 7 Stakes, described Private Eye as a “magnificent horse”.
“It’s an emotional day, isn’t it? Great to see Think It Over back and sad to see another old champ leave (Eduardo),” Rawiller said.
“But the writing was on the wall a month ago that I may not have an Everest ride and Joe said ‘if something happens and Eduardo’s not there for us, you can ride this bloke’.
“I knew he’d come good for us at the right time. I just had to try and get the horse to travel in the right frame of mind and he did that. The way he quickened up coming over the rise, he was going to be very, very hard to beat.”
Private Eye had been one of the nation’s elite sprinters last spring, winning the Gilgai Stakes and Nature Strip Stakes, and finishing a close second in The Everest behind Giga Kick before a knee issue prevented the gelding finding his best form in autumn.
But Pride had seen enough from Private Eye in recent weeks to suggest the sprinter was far from a spent force.
“I figured Private Eye was going to come back to what he was doing last spring, but you can never count on it,” Pride said.
“What you do at home doesn’t simulate that kind of pressure and it was the race pressure that was going to go either way for him today. He thrived on it, he looked a little bit tired late but he kept finding.
“I know there is a fair bit of improvement to come, too. I’ve said all week, he starts his preparations off really well, he’s a good fresh horse but I’ve trained him a bit differently this time in.
“I haven’t been too hard on him and I’d be surprised if he didn’t improve two-three lengths at his next couple of runs.”
The Bjorn Baker-trained Overpass also pressed his claims for an Everest start with a brave attempt to lead throughout in The Shorts.
“I think Overpass has gone really well,” Baker said.
“I’ve always thought this horse was better at 1200m and all his big wins have been at 1200m because he has this great cruising speed.
“I think you will find it was a very good edition of The Shorts and we got beaten by a better horse on the day but Private Eye is a star, he ran second in The Everest last year.”
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