Fresh from conquering Champions Day at Flemington, Joe Pride has now shifted his focus to this Saturday’s $1 million The Hunter, where he will have a strong team engaged.
Past winner Coal Crusher will be joined by Pride-trained stablemates Accredited, Estadio Mestalla and Golden Mile in the 1300-metre feature at Newcastle.
The Hunter comes just a week after Ceolwulf surged to victory in the $3 million Group 1 Champions Mile, and Pride could not be happier with the lineup he brings north.
“Coal Crusher was a nice run in the Russell Balding and there’s the two horses that went really well the other day – they ran one-two at Randwick – so it’s a strong hand in what will be no doubt a competitive race,” Pride said.
Pride’s quartet are among 29 nominations for The Hunter. Potential opposition includes The Ingham winner Robusto and stablemate Iowna Merc, Group 2-winning sprinter Airman, the progressive Yorkshire and the highly-rated Ciaron Maher import Darnation.
Last year’s edition of The Hunter was claimed by Briasa, who used the feature win as a springboard to establishing himself among the country’s elite sprinters in 2025.
Coal Crusher finished third in last year’s running of The Hunter, having won the race in 2023. The year prior, he claimed a benchmark 88 on the same race day.
The eight-year-old son of Turffontein heads towards Saturday following a fourth placing in the $3 million Russell Balding Stakes, beaten 4-3/4 lengths by Jimmysstar.
Estadio Mestalla and Accredited ran the quinella in the $300,000 Choisir Handicap on Melbourne Cup Day at Randwick, with the former lunging late to score by a narrow margin.
Golden Mile also contested the Russell Balding Stakes but finished 6-1/2 lengths behind Coal Crusher when 13th of 15, and Pride is hopeful the gelding can rediscover his best form.
“He’s been disappointing so far so I’m hoping he can find something, because he needs to find a couple of lengths,” Pride said.
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