The exciting Joe Pride-trained four-year-old gelding Ceolwulf stamped his potential as a horse to watch this spring with a charging win for the punters in Saturday’s Epsom Handicap 2024.
2024 Epsom Handicap winner Ceolwulf could be King Charles III Stakes bound this spring. Photo: Steve Hart.
Saluting over the famous Randwick mile in the day’s $1.5 million Group 1 feature, Ceolwulf overcame a tardy start and wide alley to salute for the favourite backers by over a length on the line over a brave Tom Kitten with the Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott-trained Royal Patronage third.
Showing plenty of class back down in distance off a close second in the Group 3 Kingston Town Stakes (2000m) last time out, the galloper was ridden to victory by a patient Chad Schofield.
Schofield allowed his horse to come into stride after being slow out before letting down with an exceptional late burst on the home straight to leave his rivals in his wake.
Pride has now won four Group 1 races over the prestigious Randwick mile with two Epsoms and two Doncaster Mile victories in the autumn’s equivalent.
The master trainer may be best known for preparing sprinters like last year’s The Everest hero Think About It but with the progressive Ceolwulf in his ranks he could be set to dominate the middle-distance features this season.
The son of Tavistock remains untapped with a bright future ahead.
Pride is still figuring out exactly where to place Ceolwulf next naming options including the Group 2 $2 million Hill Stakes (1900m) next weekend and the Group 1 $5 million King Charles III Stakes (1600m) on October 19 as part of The Everest Day.
“That was fantastic,” Pride said of the Epsom result.
“We knew he had the right sort of profile coming into it and to see him let down like that, it’s very, very satisfying. He’s just a good horse on the rise.
“He’s just going to keep getting better with age and he’s so exciting. That was a real buzz.
“He’s got a great engine. I see it every time he runs, the way he recovers from races and track gallops. He’s an amazing athlete, and as I say, the best is yet to come.
“He’ll run a little bit further than that but no need to toy with that too much at the moment. We’ll enjoy that one today and think about where we go next.
“Yet to discover that (what his best distance is).
“He could well back up in the Hill Stakes next week but I haven’t ruled out, you could come back here for the King Charles.
“There’s a lot of options. Let’s just sit on it for now and enjoy that.”
2024 Epsom Handicap Results
| Finish | No. | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Margin | Bar. | Weight | Penalty | Starting Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | CEOLWULF (NZ) | Joseph Pride | Chad Schofield | 14 | 54kg | $4F | |||
| 2 | 9 | TOM KITTEN | James Cummings | Tommy Berry | 1.17L | 19 | 54kg | $12 | ||
| 3 | 2 | ROYAL PATRONAGE (FR) | Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott | Tim Clark | 1.9L | 17 | 56kg | $6.50 | ||
| 4 | 4 | KOVALICA (NZ) | Chris Waller | James McDonald | 2.02L | 1 | 55.5kg | $7.50 | ||
| 5 | 15 | ARCTIC GLAMOUR | Gerald Ryan & Sterling Alexiou | Andrew Adkins | 2.08L | 6 | 50kg | $41 | ||
| 6 | 1 | MY OBERON (IRE) | Annabel Neasham & Rob Archibald | Nash Rawiller | 3.16L | 20 | 56.5kg | $16 | ||
| 7 | 12 | MAJOR BEEL (NZ) | Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott | Ms Winona Costin | 3.7L | 9 | 51.5kg | $17 | ||
| 8 | 6 | DEMOCRACY MANIFEST | Chris Waller | Kerrin McEvoy | 3.95L | 10 | 55kg | $31 | ||
| 9 | 18 | KINTYRE | Gary Portelli | Ms Cejay Graham | 4.23L | 7 | 50kg | $19 | ||
| 10 | 10 | BERKSHIRE SHADOW (GB) | Ciaron Maher | Ashley Morgan | 4.25L | 8 | 53kg | $41 | ||
| 11 | 19 | FIRESTORM (NZ) | Chris Waller | Mark Du Plessis | 4.34L | 13 | 50kg | $26 | ||
| 12 | 8 | NUGGET (GB) | Ciaron Maher | Dylan Gibbons | 4.56L | 11 | 54kg | $31 | ||
| 13 | 20 | GALERON (IRE) | Annabel Neasham & Rob Archibald | Ms Alysha Collett | 4.85L | 4 | 50kg | $51 | ||
| 14 | 16 | MCHALE | Chris Waller | Ms Rachel King | 5.22L | 15 | 50kg | $31 | ||
| 15 | 13 | CHRYSAOR | Chris Waller | Craig Williams | 5.8L | 5 | 51.5kg | $15 | ||
| 16 | 14 | MOLLY BLOOM (NZ) | Chris Waller | Zac Lloyd (a) | 7.24L | 3 | 50.5kg | $31 | ||
| 17 | 5 | REDIENER | Chris Waller | Joshua Parr | 7.25L | 12 | 55.5kg | $31 | ||
| 18 | 17 | AUSBRED FLIRT | Brad Widdup | Reece Jones | 7.3L | 2 | 50kg | $61 | ||
| 19 | 11 | LOCH EAGLE | Kris Lees | Jay Ford | 9.25L | 18 | 52.5kg | $151 | ||
| 20 | 3 | DETONATOR JACK (NZ) | Ciaron Maher | Jason Collett | 9.65L | 16 | 56kg | $21 | ||
Table Credit: Racing Australia.
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