Joseph Pride, a trainer celebrated for his ability to enhance the performances of seasoned horses, is currently overseeing the progress of the capable gelding Poison Chalice.

The six-year-old, sired by Savabeel, was previously under the guidance of trainer Paul Preusker in Horsham. His last appearance resulted in a tenth-place finish in the Listed Ballarat Cup over 2000 metres.

While Poison Chalice has yet to achieve a victory beyond benchmark grade, he has demonstrated considerable talent in Group races, with his closest effort being a second in the Group 3 Eclipse Stakes (1800m) back in the Spring of 2024.

Pride is keen to gain a better insight into the new stable acquisition when he competes in the Listed Civic Stakes (1400m) at Royal Randwick on Saturday.

“Poison Chalice raced down in Melbourne, he’s a nice Savabeel horse,” Pride stated. “He’s going well, he trialled up, there’s improvement to come but he should run well.”

“He’s raced up over a mile to 2000 metres, we’ll kick him off at seven furlongs and see how he goes. Lovely horse, hasn’t changed ownership, they’ve got a really nice horse.”

Poison Chalice has been prepared with two trials leading into this campaign. He showed significant improvement in his latest Warwick Farm hitout, racing on pace and finishing second over 791 metres, with Pride noting the horse has settled in well in Sydney.

“Getting them on the Sydney leg can be a bit overstated,” Pride commented. “When they come to you at the start of the preparation, he’s been in work for the last ten to twelve weeks and he’s done it all on the Sydney leg, and he seems to have adjusted well.”

Cool Jakey, a horse known for its front-running tactics and a recent strong win at benchmark 94 level, will also contest the race. Pride believes Cool Jakey is in excellent condition for another attempt at Listed company.

The Civic Stakes is shaping up to be an intriguing contest, and exploring online bookmakers could be a good move for interested punters.