Typically measured in the placement of his horses, Joe Pride has thrown caution to the wind with Cinderella Days, who will be out to parlay a black-type placing into a Group 1 Surround Stakes victory.
Having cut her teeth in provincial and midweek grade last preparation, Cinderella Days was vaulted into Group company first-up, running the race of her life to finish third to In Secret in the Light Fingers Stakes (1200m).
Pride said the performance was no fluke despite the filly again being rated at double-figure odds as a $31 chance.
“It is an unusual leap up for one of my horses, but I felt she’d had enough racing and was seasoned enough during the spring to come in during the autumn and make her presence felt,” Pride said.
“She gave us a great sight. It’s not easy, here we are now finding ourselves in a Group One and the market is telling us we’re not among the main chances again.
“But I think she is a filly who is really building her confidence with every run she has. I wouldn’t underestimate her going into Saturday.”
Cinderella Days is by Astern, the sire of Aft Cabin, out of 2012 Coolmore Classic winner Ofcourseican.
Her half-brother is accomplished stayer Persan who was fifth in the 2020 Melbourne Cup, so Pride has no qualms about his filly stretching to 1400m for the first time in the Surround.
He has also drawn parallels between Cinderella Days and his former high-class sprinter Fasika, who made a similarly rapid rise to stakes company.
“I can see her training on to do what Fasika did as an older horse and I’m hoping she is even better than that,” Pride said.
“But that’s the pathway I think she is on. She’s going to be a really good older sprinter-to-1400-metre mare.
“The best of her is yet to come but she is physically well developed and she will run a mighty race.”
Pride has been similarly bold with his handling of stablemate Think About It, another up-and-coming sprinter who has earned a start in Saturday’s Group 3 Liverpool City Cup (1300m) after winning five of his six starts, the last three in succession.
Again, Pride admits it is an unusual move for him to elevate the four-year-old into Group racing so soon but like Cinderella Days, he believes Think About It ($3.40 betr.com.au fav) is ready for the challenge.
“He’s gone benchmark 72, 78, 88 and now a Group Three. They are massive leaps each time and he never looks well placed because he is never genuinely on the limit, but punters recognise he is a horse on an upward trajectory,” Pride said.
“You just don’t know where these horses will stop, there’s no ceiling for him at the moment so he is exciting. I loved his last win, it was so strong.
“I was tossing up whether to take him to Newcastle (for next week’s Newcastle Stakes) but the way the race looks on paper to me, I think he will be there on Saturday.”
