The Ageless Eduardo in a Class of His Own in Concorde

Mark Smith - Saturday September 3

A set against Eduardo in the betting ring rewarded his legion of his fans, who did not have a moment's worry in Saturday's Group III Southern Cross Group Concorde Stakes at Randwick.

Nash was smiling a long way out (image Steve Hart)

Ridden by Nash Rawiller for Joe Pride, Eduardo has outstanding wet track form, and he was barely out of second gear in defeating Athelric (Exceed And Excel) by two and a half lengths with a further one and three-quarter lengths back to Handle The Truth (Star Witness) in third

Andermatt (Snitzel), the subject of a betting plunge, was struggling a long way out and finished fourth.

Pride said his 9yo stable star has plenty left to offer.

"It's irrelevant his age; it's the number of starts he's had," Pride said.

"Malkovich is a four or five-year-old, he's had 24 starts, and my horse has had 27. Forget the age, he is an amazing athlete, and you saw it again today.

"Testing conditions first-up, and he was taking on a bunch of horses lauded to be on the way up. But to beat this horse, they've got to be at that grade. For up-and-comers, it's very hard to get to where he and Nature Strip are.

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"I did hear he was the lay of the day with the TAB, which was a bit surprising. Good luck to the punters who got on him, his loyal followers.

"We will be here for The Shorts in a couple of weeks, and then we'll give him the month into The Everest. He has come back in terrific order. He's heavier than ever, and you'll see that reflected in his race performances.

"It looked very easy for him, so I think he will be fine. He's a tough horse."

It was the eighth stakes win for the dual Group 1 winning son of Host (CHI), advancing his record to twelve wins, four seconds, and six thirds from 28 starts with earnings of $6,013,900.

Raced in partnership with his breeder Jane Kaufmann, Eduardo is the best of three winners from as many foals out of the unraced Fantastic Light (IRE) mare Blushing.

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Race Result - Sthrn Cross Grp Concorde Stks Gr3 1000m

Randwick Track: Heavy(9) Time: 0:59.55
1
Eduardo
- 9g Host (CHI) x Blushing (AUS) (Fantastic Light (USA))
Tnr: Joseph Pride Rdr: N Rawiller 60.5
2
2.5
Athelric
- 4g Exceed And Excel (AUS) x Ida (AUS) (Lonhro (AUS))
Tnr: James Cummings Rdr: J Bowman 57
3
4.3
Handle The Truth
- 7g Star Witness (AUS) x Assertively (AUS) (Bernardini (USA))
Tnr: K R Dryden Rdr: Tyler Schiller 57
Star Witness
4
4.4
Andermatt
- 5g Snitzel (AUS) x Portillo (AUS) (Red Ransom (USA))
Tnr: James Cummings Rdr: J B Mc Donald 56
5
4.8
Malkovich
- 5h Choisir (AUS) x Mabkhara (AUS) (Anabaa (USA))
Tnr: Bjorn Baker Rdr: Rachel King 57
6
6.1
Zapateo
- 4m Brazen Beau (AUS) x Jerezana (AUS) (Lonhro (AUS))
Tnr: James Cummings Rdr: Tim Clark 56
7
8.9
Shelby Sixtysix
- 6g Toronado (IRE) x Storm Kite (AUS) (Honours List (IRE))
Tnr: D A Williams Rdr: J R Collett 60
8
12.0
Rocketing By
- 5g So You Think (NZ) x Across The Moon (AUS) (Stratum (AUS))
Tnr: David Pfieffer Rdr: Tommy Berry 56
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