“The mode I’m in at the moment is to talk down Private Eye to myself,” Pride revealed. “Then I look at replays of his first-up win!”
Private Eye recorded the fastest final 600m sectional on the way to winning the Show County Quality Handicap first up, flying down the outside of the field to record a time of 32.74seconds.
“Your eyes didn’t lie,” Pride said. “When he straightened up, he had so much to do in a slowly run race and was still able to win.
“I also keep reminding myself that Private Eye has only had 10 starts so there is no way we have seen the best of him – he is super exciting.”
Private Eye has given his trainer the impression that he can continue to keep his first up freshness and take that into his next start in the Theo Marks.
“Private Eye is making all the right noises at home,” Pride said.
“He’s fresh and well, he’s going to be three weeks between runs and I don’t think his first-up win was a real hard run.
“This horse doesn’t seem to have tough runs; he’s a really good athlete and he’s got great ‘recovery’ from his races.”
Pride has a big spring campaign lined up for Private Eye which includes the Group One $1.5 million Epsom Handicap on October 2 and the $7.5 million Golden Eagle on October 30.