Pride not throwing in the white towel in Doomben 10,000

By Glenn Davis

The stars may be aligning for I Wish I Win to claim his second Group 1 victory in the Doomben 10,000 on Saturday but Sydney trainer Joe Pride is not throwing in the white towel with his gun sprinters Mazu and Private Eye.

I Wish I Win drew perfectly in barrier one for the Group 1 sprint while Mazu will jump from eight and Private Eye in six for the 1350 metre feature which has attracted nine runners.

Pride is chasing his third Doomben 10,000 after Red Oog gave him his first win at the highest level in 2005 before Eduardo gave him his second victory in the Weight for Age sprint in 2021.

Mazu won the Doomben 10,000 in 2022 and finished third to Giga Kick last year when trained by Peter and Paul Snowden and has only had three starts under Pride’s name.

The five-year-old is coming off a last start win in the Group 3 Hall Mark Stakes at Randwick on April 20 while Private Eye finished a brave third the same day behind Magic Time in the Group 1 All Aged Stakes.

“Mazu’s win last time was very good and he should roll forward and get into a good spot and hopefully run a cheeky race,” Pride said.

“I thought Private Eye’s run in the All Aged was terrific as he doesn’t like the heavy.

“He normally only has short preparations but he’s had four so far and has stood up.”

Pride said both horses will head to Brisbane on Thursday after pleasing him in their work in Sydney on Tuesday.

“It’s a small field but Eduardo beat a small field and I Wish I Win is obviously the one to beat,” Pride said.

“Barrier one could work out beautifully for I Wish I Win or it could be a thorn in his side.

“That’s not for me to worry about but whenever I get barrier one I’m thinking is it going to work?

“It worked for me when Red Oog drew barrier one when he won the Doomben 10,000 and that’s what won him the race.

“He could have easily been held up and knocked out of the race.”

Pride has a slight leaning towards Private Eye as his best hope of toppling I Wish I Win.

“On their head-to-head I’d have to favour Private Eye,” he said.

Before the barrier draw, the Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman-trained I Wish I Win was a $2.25 favourite and could set a new record as the shortest priced favourite to win the Doomben 10,000 if he continues to firm.

Last year’s winner Giga Kick became the new record holder when he started favourite at $1.65, smashing the previous mark set by Eduardo who won as a $1.70 favourite in the 2021 edition.

Eduardo’s victory famously smashed a 45-year-old record held by the great Manikato in his 1979 victory when he won the Doomben 10,000 as a $2.25 favourite.