Joe Pride is realistic about expectations for King’s Secret, but the Warwick Farm trainer is confident Thursday’s breakthrough victory is only the beginning of the gelding’s rise.

While the four-year-old may never scale the same heights as his champion half-brother Private Eye, Pride believes the win in the Listed Canterbury Sprint has confirmed King’s Secret belongs in stakes company.

The son of Shalaa out of Confidential Queen claimed his first black-type success by fighting off The Instructor in the $200,000 feature at Canterbury, taking his record to six wins from just 11 starts and lifting his earnings to $573,575.

“He’s done a lot in these early stages of his career, but there’s a lot more to come,” Pride said.

“In 12 months’ time, who knows? He might go to the same level (of races) that his brother’s reached, not that I’m saying he’s going to be as good as him.”

Pride plans to give King’s Secret a short freshen-up before potentially stepping him up to Group company, with races such as the Maurice McCarten Stakes, Star Kingdom Stakes and Hall Mark Stakes on the radar.

Settling just off the speed as the $3.80 second favourite, King’s Secret looked under pressure when The Instructor loomed at the 400m, but he responded strongly, surged clear inside the final furlong and prevailed by a neck, with Barber finishing a further 1¾ lengths back in third.

Regular rider Andrew Adkins said the gelding’s determination was again on show.

“He’s just a deadset winner, he tries so hard, he puts all his effort in and he executes really well,” Adkins said.

“That’s not really how I wanted to ride him today, up that close, but with the light weight and the favourite – I didn’t want to give it too much start around here – I needed him to be tough and that he was.”

Form students looking ahead to King’s Secret’s next start can compare markets via leading Australian betting sites.