Eduardo fails to excite the purists with his blue-collar pedigree, but for fans that value a big-hearted performer that leaves it all on the track, the seven-year-old gelding is star.
Coming off a thrashing of the Horse Of The Year Nature Strip in the Group II Challenge Stakes at Randwick, Eduardo claimed a well-deserved Group 1 success in Saturday’s $700,000 Bisley Workwear The Galaxy (1100m) at Rosehill.
There is little need to analyse the race. Carrying the top-weight under Nash Rawiller, Joe Pride’s stable star went to the front and ground his opponents into the ground.
Order Of Command came closest at the finish at a very safe three and a half lengths with Jonker a further two and a half lengths back in third.
The son of Host (CHI) advances his record to seven wins, three seconds and three thirds from 19 starts with earnings of $1,762,900.
Pride said the Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes is the next target.
“He’s a really special horse. I brought him here today and you wondered what could go wrong,” Pride said.
“You know you’ve got the horse on song, but there’s the variables of the weight and the way the track was playing.
“I just said to Nash ‘I’m not going to tell you what to do mate,’ and he was confident and said ‘I’ll find the fence and I’ll just take care of it’. He was confident, he knew what he needed to do and he did it.
“He is a very good horse. He’s made a statement today. He made it the other day, but it was a statement not taken up by all.
“There’s better ahead of this horse, no doubt about that.
“Terravista is the best horse I‘ve ever trained. His acceleration was absolutely amazing. This horse is probably second at this stage, but he might get there.”
Raced in partnership by his breeder Jane Kaufmann, Eduardo is the third winner from as many foals out of the unraced Fantastic Light (IRE) mare Blushing who has not been returned to the Stud Book since Eduardo was foaled in 2013.
Blushing is a granddaughter of the Group III QTC Lightning Handicap winner Peggy Ann.
Eduardo becomes the first Group 1 winner for Hussonet's Chilean-bred son Host (ARG), who died last year.
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