It’s unusual for Joe Pride to have a two-year-old runner before the Christmas period, but in the Godolphin filly Originate, the trainer has encountered a juvenile that is ready to compete.
Pride, who is well-known for his patient training methods and his ability to ensure horses like Private Eye, Coal Crusher, and Estadio Mestalla have long careers, explained that Originate’s natural athleticism and early maturity have positioned her to make an early debut in Saturday’s $1 million Golden Gift over 1100 metres.
“Everything I ask her, she’s able to do it. That’s the marker,” Pride remarked.
“If they’re able to do it, they’re ready when they’re ready. I don’t necessarily have an age I need them to be to race. I just need them to be ready, and everything she’s showing so far is she’s there.
“She has got very much a two-year-old family behind her. She’s a beautiful filly, and in time, I think she’s going to make a really nice horse.”
While Pride’s juvenile runners before Christmas are few and far between, he did prepare Shalatin to secure a second-place finish behind Sejardan in the 2021 renewal of Saturday’s race.
Given the critical importance of barriers from the 1100m start at Rosehill, Pride was hoping for a favourable draw and was rewarded with Originate landing gate two.
The filly finished ahead of Golden Gift rivals Vain Ambition and Sharjawiyah in her most recent trial. Although she showed some inexperience at stages, Pride stated that this was due to her learning to race around other horses, not a reflection of her tractability.
“(Jockey) Chad (Schofield) was more saying she was running away from the other horse. It’s all new for her and that’s why I wanted a good draw. I don’t want to make it too hard for her,” he said.
“She’s tractable at home. She’s a quick learner. She’s got a lot going for her.”
Originate, a homebred for Godolphin, is by the highly-regarded stallion Street Boss, the sire of Everest winner Tempted, and is out of Emanate, a Group 3-winning mare by Lonhro.
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