Someone must have whispered the word retirement in PRIVATE EYE’s ear before his sparkling return to form at Rosehill Saturday.
Any retirement plans for our grand campaigner were shelved after the gelding toyed with his rivals in the Group 3 Festival Stakes (1500m).
PRIVATE EYE had virtually nothing in his favour – another wide gate, 60.5kg and a deteriorating soft 7 track – but an inspired ride by Nash Rawiller cajoled a 3-length victory out of the wily 7yo.
He’s still got it! 🙌
Private Eye and @nashhot take the G3 Festival Stakes at Rosehill!@PrideRacing | @aus_turf_club pic.twitter.com/aiTnTnIKLt
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) November 30, 2024
Whilst PRIVATE EYE’s form this preparation hadn’t been bad, he was clearly a length or two below his best.
Perhaps the most perplexing aspect of his recent form was that he had showed no interest in travelling early and often left his runs too late.
On Saturday, he showed renewed zest and crossed to sit outside the lead over 1500m – a distance he hadn’t raced over in more than 2 years.
It would appear that after reinventing himself as a sprinter during the middle part of his career, PRIVATE EYE is now reverting to his 3yo/4yo form that saw him win a QLD Guineas and Epsom Handicap over a mile.
With that in mind, the logical progression is the $2 million Ingham (1600m) in a fortnight at Randwick where he is currently second favourite in early markets.
Few horses have confounded Joe Pride more than PRIVATE EYE. But the trainer has been adamant all spring that the horse still has something to offer which was vindicated on Saturday.
“The trouble I had with retirement – and I’ve had a lot of good, old horses – I generally know when they should be retired, I see signs in them,” Pride said
“With Private Eye, I have not seen any signs in him. He has never looked fatigued after a run, he keeps coming through his races very well.
“I didn’t want to tip him out for a spell, either, as I couldn’t find anything wrong with him. I resorted to put him over the jumps a few times, I didn’t know what to do with him.”
Private Eye’s effort to shoulder 60.5kg has been bettered only once in the Festival Stakes in more than 60 years – Eremein won with 61kg in 2008.
A $62,500 yearling, PRIVATE EYE takes his record to 12 wins and 8 placings from 41 starts, with prizemoney climbing to an incredible $11,859,185.
He becomes our 53rd winner for the year and 12th for the 2024-25 season.
