Two weeks after his brilliant Group One breakthrough in the Epsom Handicap (1600m), the New Zealand-bred rising superstar Ceolwulf conquered an even stronger line-up over the same course and distance in Saturday’s A$5 million Gr.1 King Charles III Stakes (1600m) at Randwick.
Ceolwulf began his four-year-old season without any stakes wins to his name, but he hinted at a bright future at that level with runner-up finishes in the Gr.1 Rosehill Guineas (2000m) and Gr.1 Australian Derby (2400m) in the autumn.
The Tavistock gelding broke his black-type drought in style with a stunning finish out of the pack in the Epsom on October 5, more than vindicating trainer Joe Pride’s enormous and long-standing belief in his ability.
Pride had no hesitation in taking on some of Australia’s very best racehorses under weight-for-age conditions on Saturday, and Ceolwulf rose to the occasion and raised the bar again.
Rider Chad Schofield admitted that his pre-race plan went out the window after a relatively slow beginning, with Ceolwulf ending up well back in seventh and a big margin behind the brilliant front-runner Pride Of Jenni.
That Trelawney Stud-bred mare won three Group One races last season in blistering all-the-way style, and she rounded the Randwick home turn on Saturday as the reigning Australian Horse of the Year and the one they all had to catch.
My Oberon was the first to move up alongside Pride Of Jenni, but she saw him coming and dug deep to gradually turn back his challenge.
Then Schofield unleashed Ceolwulf down the middle of the track, and he powered past the great mare in the final few strides to score a scintillating win by three-quarters of a length.
“That was breathtaking,” Schofield said. “I thought he was super in the Epsom, but that was even better.
“He didn’t jump that well, so I had to go to plan B and settle a bit further back than I wanted. Once I got him into the clear in the straight, he gave me the most amazing turn of foot.
“This is probably a changing of the guard. He’s the new one. He’s a machine. We know the stamina he’s got, and now we’re seeing that turn of foot. It’s very rare for a horse to have both of those things, and he’s just the best-tempered horse as well. He’s improving all the time too, which is scary.”
Ceolwulf has now had 14 starts for four wins, five placings and more than A$4.75 million in stakes.
“I certainly thought he could go out there and do that today,” Pride said. “And I said to the owners that if it doesn’t happen this year, it’ll happen next year.
“I’ve been very confident that he’s on that path towards being one of the best horses around. After today, he’s there. He’s on his way. I think he’s already a star.
“We gelded him after his three-year-old season. I’ll probably have some of the owners ask why we did that now, but I think he’s a better horse now as a gelding.
“I’m just really grateful to have come across a horse like this. The world’s his oyster.”
Ceolwulf was bred by Cambridge Stud owners Brendan and Jo Lindsay and is a son of the Shamardal mare Las Brisas.
Ceolwulf is a graduate of the 2022 New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale, where Pride and part-owner Leighton Howl went to $170,000 to secure him from Riversley Park’s draft.