Providing Joe Pride with a dream weekend opener falls to Coal Crusher if the battle-hardened gelding reproduces his fondness for Newcastle amid the district’s premier meet.
He contests the Group 3 Newcastle Stakes (1400m) on Friday, only six days removed from a below-par Liverpool City Cup (1300m) performance at Randwick.
Six starts at the track have brought three successes and three placings for him, and the 1400m may probe his distance ceiling, but the horse with two The Hunter wins has managed it in earlier campaigns.
“The 1400 is the top of our range, but he’s won at it before,” Pride said.
“Now he is older and more sensible, he harnesses his energy a bit better and it’s the right time to give it another go.”
Pride holds multiple prospects for Randwick’s Saturday Group races, four in total including Attica in the headline Randwick Guineas (1600m) and Headley Grange’s return in the Canterbury Stakes (1300m).
The bulk of his firepower deploys in the Challenge Stakes (1000m) with Mazu, In Flight and The Black Cloud priming for Rosehill’s Group 1 Galaxy (1100m) on March 21.
“I wanted to give them all a run before the Galaxy, so we will probably take our place with all three,” Pride said.
“Any rain on the day would be good, and there is some predicted.”
Giga Kick leads markets at $2.50, with Pride’s runners at longer odds Thursday—Mazu $10, The Black Cloud $12—although Pride tips $21 In Flight contingent on moisture.
“She’s the widest one in the market, so go figure,” he said.
“All three horses are going well but I feel like she is the one about to emerge and really launch her career this winter. But she needs wet tracks. She is nowhere near as good on the dry.”
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