Locked and loaded: Pride relaunches sprinters for Missile attack
By Chris Roots
Joe Pride has built a reputation as the man to find the full potential out of any horse at any age.
The horseman has had some very good ones from the start of their careers, such as Rain Affair, Red Oog and Stradbroke winner and Everest-bound Think About It.
The flying Big Parade has joined Joe Pride’s stable and is ready to fire in Saturday’s Missile Stakes at Rosehill. Credit: Getty
But he often gets opportunities with gallopers such as Saturday’s Missile Stakes contenders Big Parade, Dragonstone and Argentia because of his ability to take older sprinters, in particular, to the level where their talent meets the ambitions for them.
There is no magic fix – just trusting his system and giving the horse a fresh start.
“It can’t be a total blank slate with horses like them because I have watched them race,” Pride said. “But in terms of their training, we start from scratch.
“There is a reason why they are at my place, and normally it’s because they haven’t been performing, but not always. So you’re trying to find the best out of them.”
Pride’s system has worked on numerous occasions with grand sprinter Eduardo – a Missile Stakes winner – the most successful product of the rejuvenation process. It’s simple really.
“I treat them as a totally new horse,” Pride said. “If I go down the same pathway as the person before me, I’m going to fail along with them.
“The horses are in a new environment, which is the best thing, and we just put them into the system which has worked well with older horses and young horses before them.”
Big Parade comes to Pride as a seven-year-old with a record that suggests he is fast and a step off Everest quality.
Big Parade was headstrong as a young horse, but former trainer Mark Newnham was able to harness the speed sufficiently for him to finish runner-up in the group 1 Galaxy. With only 18 starts for eight wins, there is more left in the seven-year-old.
Big Parade hasn’t been seen in more than a year after injury curtailed his spring campaign last year for Newnham, who is now training in Hong Kong. He has been with Pride since May.
“He was actually supposed to run in Brisbane a month ago,” Pride said. “He is very fast.”
Big Parade has won three of four barrier trials to ready him for the group 2 Missile Stakes, the most recent by an astonishing 21 lengths.
“I would have rather him save that for raceday – there is no prizemoney in trials,” Pride said. “I don’t think even Rain Affair won a trial by that far, and he used to put a gap in them.
“It didn’t hurt him because he’s been in work for a long time. He didn’t run electric quick time, and I think he still had the handbrake on at the end.
“I was thinking during it, ‘don’t go that quick’, but he was ready for it and he is ready for Saturday.”
Big Parade is the $3.30 favourite in front of another speed machine, I Am Me, at $4. Pride stablemates Argentia and Dragonstone are rated $18 with the bookmakers.
Argentia is having one more preparation before joining John Camilleri’s band of broodmares. Pride has been given the opportunity to try take her to another level, as he did with Mariamia last season, which became a group 1 winner.
“I think she’s more a sprinter-miler. I’m open to being guided by how she performs as to where we go in terms of class and distance,” Pride said. “I really like her a lot on what I have seen, and this is a good starting point for her heading into the spring and will tell us a lot.
“It’s another reason I’m really looking forward to this race. I think I have a couple of really nice sprinters there, and it could open up a few options.”
While Big Parade and Argentia start their career for Pride, Dragonstone comes off a winter campaign where he has run three placings, including just failing to run down Omni Man in the July Sprint at Rosehill last time out.
“He’s got the fitness edge on them and, if they overdo it, he’s going to be the closer,” Pride said. “The other two probably have a class edge on him on what they have done.”
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