Trainer Joe Pride made a bold call to shift tactics and add blinkers to Estadio Mestalla in the Listed Winter Stakes (1400m) at Rosehill, and the move paid off in spectacular fashion.

After two flat runs to start his campaign, Estadio Mestalla was sent forward from the gates and controlled the race from the front, showing renewed enthusiasm with the gear change to spring a major upset at $61 odds.

“He has been very disappointing at his first two runs back and I have honestly been scratching my head because he is a very genuine and very honest horse,” Pride said.

“It’s not like him to be out of the money like that. I went a little bit early with the blinkers than what I normally would in a preparation but I felt like I had to do something and make a change.”

“It was fantastic. It was good to see him out there rolling along and he looked happy and comfortable and gave a really big kick.”

Estadio Mestalla held off Robusto ($13) by 1-1/2 lengths, with stablemate Accredited ($5.50) filling third, delivering a morale-boosting win for The Racing League’s NSW Tycoons ownership group.

Despite his lacklustre lead-up form, the six-year-old had shown ability last spring when finishing second in the Little Dance, and Pride saw signs of his old self before the race.

“I have been telling the jockeys, ‘watch him going to the gates because he’ll pull and be a bit ferocious’ and the first two runs back he has gone around like a kid’s pony,” he said. “Today, he took off a bit on the rider and I thought, ‘this is better’.”

“We paid $70,000 for this horse off Chris Waller and he has been a great money-spinner.”

Jockey Dylan Gibbons secured the second leg of a winning treble on Estadio Mestalla, having already saluted aboard Good Banter and later winning again on Brave One.

“I thought we were going to see a good performance and with a million owners too, I didn’t want to be the most hated man at Rosehill so I had to get him home,” Gibbons joked.

TRL’s Terry Kennedy said the victory was a milestone moment for the group. “This horse just got nosed out in the Little Dance but for the NSW Tycoons, this is up there with our biggest wins.”

“We will try to qualify this horse for the Little Dance again and try to win it this time.”

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