Private Eye has never raced at Doomben, but Joe Pride is banking on the track giving his charge an advantage over favourite I Wish I Win when they clash in the Group 1 Doomben 10,000.
A backmarker with a devastating finish, I Wish I Win is an even-money fancy for Saturday’s Group 1 race, while Private Eye is on the third line of betting at $6.50.
The duo has met three times and on two of those occasions, there has been little between them.
I Wish I Win finished a half-length ahead of Private Eye in the 2023 Newmarket Handicap (1200m) at Flemington, while Private Eye edged out his Doomben 10,000 rival to snare second in last year’s The Everest.
Pride is anticipating Private Eye being ahead of I Wish I Win in the run on Saturday, and given Doomben has a shorter straight than Brisbane’s other major metropolitan track of Eagle Farm, he is hoping that plays into the hands of his gelding.
“I would have thought Doomben would be advantage Private Eye, as opposed to Eagle Farm, but we will find out,” Pride said.
“It’s a short straight and my horse has got a good turn of foot, the other horse might just take a while to wind up.
“He’s got to beat a good horse, but he has raced against him before and there is seemingly not that much between them.
“I can’t wait. I think it’s a nice race for him.”
Private Eye has been freshened since finishing third in last month’s All Aged Stakes (1400m) on an unsuitable heavy track, an effort that followed a brace of luckless runs in the Challenge Stakes (1000m) and The Galaxy (1100m) when he got too far back from wide draws.
Stablemate Mazu ($15) will also take his place in the Doomben 10,000 (1200m) after posting an overdue win in the Hall Mark Stakes (1200m) during the Sydney autumn carnival.
Pride said the win had given Mazu an important confidence boost.
“It’s just nice to see those horses that haven’t won for a while, win, because until they do it again, you’re wondering if it’s still there,” he said.
“But it seemed to unlock something with him the other day, albeit on a heavy track. He ran well and the Brisbane carnival is a perfect carnival for him.”
Both Private Eye and Mazu are due to travel from Pride’s Sydney base to Brisbane overnight on Thursday.
