Pride open to Cox Plate tilt

[Wandering Eyes]

The autumn campaign of Champions Mile winner Ceolwulf (NZ) (Tavistock) is likely to have a major bearing on whether trainer Joe Pride puts the Cox Plate, to be run at Flemington, firmly on his stable star’s 2026 spring agenda.

Pride is looking to give Ceolwulf another chance to prove his effectiveness at 2000m next autumn as his biggest wins to date have been his four Gr.1 successes over 1600m, which include back-to-back King Charles III Stakes at Randwick and Saturday’s Champions Mile in his first visit to Melbourne.

Speaking on Sunday morning on SEN’s Correct Weight program after Ceolwulf’s stirring heavy track win at Flemington on Saturday, Pride indicated a goal for next campaign would certainly be to see whether Ceolwulf can also prove himself at the elite level over 2000m.

“And I’m open to the fact that that may not be the case,” Pride told SEN.

“I’m not blinded by the fact that he’s a good horse and he’ll just be able to do that. He has run some great races at 2000m – he’s run second in a Rosehill Guineas – but I think it’s fair to say his best performances so far have been in fast-run miles. And I guess what I’d be banking on there, to help us do this, as he gets a bit older and now that he’s wearing the blinkers that he’s able to adapt to some muddling tempos that he may get in those 2000m races.”

Ceolwulf’s most recent attempt in a 2000m feature was a fifth placing to Via Sistina in the Gr.1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes last autumn.

That race again shapes as one likely option during the autumn.

Speaking about that possibility of giving Ceolwulf his chance to win a Cox Plate next spring, Pride has a quandary given Ceolwulf has been dominant in the past two King Charles III Stakes.

“Look, it’s going to be difficult because we’ve got the King Charles and unless those dates are going to change next year, the King Charles being the week before is the fly in the ointment there for me,” Pride said.

“But the autumn is going to basically decide whether we should be targeting the Cox Plate. Now if he’s good at 2000m but not great, I think I’d have to have rocks in my head not aiming him at the King Charles again. But that’s something that will be determined by his autumn campaign.”

What has also buoyed Pride, in regard to future options for Ceolwulf, is how the five-year-old handled his first interstate trip to win the Champions Mile.

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