Eduardo Back ‘Like A Bull At A Gate’

It’s one of racing’s biggest rivalries – Eduardo v Nature Strip – and there is little between the two sprinting stars.

Nature Strip leads the seven-race ledger 4-3, but Eduardo will get his chance to tie things up in the autumn, with the pair set to do battle yet again early next year.

“Looks like they might go head-to-head three times,” said Eduardo’s trainer Joe Pride.

The first clash is likely to be in the Black Caviar Lightning down the Flemington straight in February.

Eduardo on Monday returned to Pride’s Warwick Farm stables in preparation for his autumn campaign.

“He’s back with us getting ready for the Lightning Stakes,” Pride said.

“We’ve got a comfortable amount of time to get him ready, he came back yesterday looking good.”

In an ominous warning to his rivals, Pride says this year’s Everest third placegetter is only improving as he gets older.

“He’s an eight-year-old but he seems to get better each preparation despite his age,” he said.

“He’s gone to another level over the last 12 months.

“He’s like a bull at a gate, real energizer bunny-type attitude, just spring loaded, and he never has a dull moment.

“The horse is ready to go whenever you want him to, just a great horse to train.”

Despite not seeing the Flemington straight since being trained in Victoria, Pride believes conditions will suit his star sprinter.

“I think it’ll advantage us a couple of those races being over the short course,” he said.

“He hasn’t been down the straight since he was trained in Melbourne, so we’ll have to see how he copes with it, but I think it should suit him.”

Following the Group 1 Black Caviar Lightning (1000m), both Eduardo and Nature Strip are expected to take their places in the G2 Challenge Stakes (1000m) and the G1 T.J. Smith Stakes (1200m), which will both be run at Royal Randwick.

– racing.com

Share this article