Joseph Pride has the two top weights entered in the $1 million Group 2 The Hunter (1300m) at Newcastle this Saturday, but only last year’s winner Coal Crusher is certain to line up.
His stable star Private Eye is dual nominated in The Hunter and the Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield with a decision to be made after final fields and barriers come out.
“I think I’ll be accepting in both places and checking out where we draw and just exploring a little bit further,” Pride told SKY racing.
Both horses come through the $3 million Russell Balding Stakes (1300m) won by Bella Nipotina with Coal Crusher dropping out to finish last and Private Eye sticking on for fifth, although Pride was shocked to see the two so close together in the weights.
Run under quality conditions, Private Eye has been assigned 60kg for The Hunter while Coal Crusher has 59kg, up from 56.5kg when winning the race last year.
“The one who’s terribly weighted is Coal Crusher, I had a couple of chats with the handicapper about him, how he only gets a kilo off Private Eye has got me absolutely gobsmacked. Won a Hunter a year ago, never won any other group race, I don’t know,” Pride said.
Private Eye has an official rating of 112 and Coal Crusher 110, owing partly to the fact that the former has not won a race in over a year, while the latter’s last win came in The Hunter twelve months ago.
Coal Crusher will have a new jockey for The Hunter after dropping out to finish last when setting a blistering tempo in the Russell Balding with Nash Rawiller confirmed to ride with Pride confident the horse can bounce back after a “disaster last start”.
Wherever Private Eye lines up, Pride is hopeful his evergreen gelding can show a bit more away from the elite class of horse he’s been racing against of late.
“He hasn’t been running up to his best of late, that clearly is the problem, not the weight, so if he shows up with his A-game, look out.”