King’s Secret may not be asked to follow in the enormous footsteps of Private Eye, but Joe Pride believes the gelding is carving out a strong path of his own.

The Warwick Farm trainer was delighted to see the four-year-old secure his first stakes victory in the Listed Canterbury Sprint, a result he feels confirms the gelding’s quality.

By Shalaa and out of Confidential Queen, King’s Secret ground his way past The Instructor in the $200,000 event at Canterbury, recording win number six from 11 appearances and pushing his prizemoney beyond the half-million mark.

“He’s done a lot in these early stages of his career, but there’s a lot more to come,” Pride said.

“In 12 months’ time, who knows? He might go to the same level (of races) that his brother’s reached, not that I’m saying he’s going to be as good as him.”

With the Canterbury Sprint box now ticked, Pride is considering deeper waters for King’s Secret, including potential assignments in the Maurice McCarten Stakes, Star Kingdom Stakes and Hall Mark Stakes.

In Thursday’s race, King’s Secret raced prominently and appeared vulnerable when challenged approaching the turn, but he showed grit late, clawing his way to a neck victory over The Instructor, with Barber finishing another 1¾ lengths back.

Andrew Adkins, who has partnered the gelding in nearly all of his wins, said his will to win sets him apart.

“He’s just a deadset winner, he tries so hard, he puts all his effort in and he executes really well,” Adkins said.

“That’s not really how I wanted to ride him today, up that close, but with the light weight and the favourite – I didn’t want to give it too much start around here – I needed him to be tough and that he was.”

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