After nearly twelve months away from the track, Group 1 winner El Castello is set to make his long-awaited return to racing.

One of the standout three-year-olds of last spring, El Castello strung together four consecutive wins, capped by victory in the Spring Champion Stakes, before finishing fifth in the Victorian Derby (2500m).

Niggling setbacks ruled him out of the autumn, but now under the care of trainer Joe Pride, the colt has shown no signs of those issues and is ready for his stable debut in Saturday’s Theo Marks Stakes (1300m) at Rosehill.

“He’s a big boy and he’s got a lot of confidence about him but he’s a serious racehorse,” Pride said. “You’ve only got to look at his record to see that. Even at the end of last preparation, he still managed to run a good race in the Derby from a terrible draw.”

A son of Castelvecchio, El Castello remains an entire and carries potential stud appeal. However, with breeders increasingly focused on speed, Pride intends to keep him sharper and target races up to a mile.

“There’s not a lot of appetite at stud for horses who win over 2000 metres and beyond, so I’m trying to make more of a sprinter-miler out of him,” Pride explained. “If we can do that and he can show he’s got speed in his legs, a race like the Golden Eagle might be a nice option.”

El Castello is rated a $31 chance for his comeback and sits at $26 in early markets for the $10 million Golden Eagle (1500m) at Randwick on November 1.