Joe Pride
SENSATIONAL SUNDAY
For a man who has trained winners with clockwork-like regularity on Sensational Sunday, Joe Pride would probably prefer to forget about Raise, his only Keith Nolan runner to date.
‘‘I remember it was worth a lot of money to me as she was 70-1,’’ Pride said of his filly’s head-bobbing loss to Bernicia in 2008.
‘‘It was pretty painful and I’m hoping for a more pleasant experience on Sunday.’’
This time the Warwick Farm horseman has unearthed a three-year-old he thinks capable of topping Raise, who walloped her Adrian Knox rivals in the mud at Rosehill shortly after the Keith Nolan Classic.
Pride likes to think of Unimpeachable as generation next in a stable where top-line sprinters Rain Affair and Tiger Tees command the headlines.
‘‘That’s definitely the way I’m viewing her,’’ Pride said. ‘‘We’ve got a little way to go yet and she’s never even been in a black type race. Certainly Sunday will be the start of something pretty good for her.
‘‘I still think she’s a better filly than Raise ... or I hope she is. And Raise ended up winning the Adrian Knox.
‘‘It’s her first racing preparation and I’m trying to keep everything in perspective. I don’t want to force anything too harsh on her. We’ll see how she handles Sunday.’’
Pride has tailored Unimpeachable’s first preparation with the Keith Nolan Classic in sight – even if it has provided him with a few heart-in-mouth moments.
It meant he sent the Bradbury’s Luck filly to the paddock to recharge the batteries a little more than a month ago, a couple of starts after she swept to her maiden win at Kembla.
‘‘I’ve had my eye on this race with her for a while now since she won her maiden down there and everything’s gone to plan other than the barrier draw,’’ Pride said.
‘‘She’s drawn 13, which is a little bit awkward.
‘‘It sort of worked out after her Warwick Farm run that I had six weeks to fill in. I gave her 10 days in the paddock and then a nice hitout at Canterbury the other night.’’
A full field of 16 is set to face the starter in the Keith Nolan, after Anthony Cummings’s Coyote Miss was made first emergency yesterday.
The Patinack Farm-owned Longport will carry the top weight of 57-kilograms after the Tea Rose Stakes winner was scratched from the Group1 Coolmore Classic at Rosehill tomorrow.
Pride will also hold a strong hand in the main support race, the $70,000 Bert Lillye Memorial (1300m), as he looks to win the event for a third straight year.
Miss Keepsake last year came within a whisker of breaking the 1300-metre track record of Neeson, another Pride galloper, which set the mark in 2011. Pride has Kiwi hoop Jason Collett to partner Upshot, one of nine acceptors for the Bert Lillye.
‘‘He won this day last year actually – he won the 1200 [metre] and [Benchmark] 65 race and he’s back this year as an open company horse,’’ Pride said.
‘‘It’s always been a pretty successful day for the stable and hopefully Sunday’s no different.’’
Don’t miss our Sensational Sunday special liftout, only in Saturday's Mercury.
