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| Staff Writer |
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Nature Strip's only real competition in the $15 million The TAB Everest is Eduardo, an old foe he's faced before. Nature Strip has a solid advantage over Eduardo in their previous 11 meetings. Others who have challenged Nature Strip for the Everest have found it futile to try and defeat the super sprinter. Nature Strip has a perfect record against Masked Crusader, going 6-0, a perfect record against Lost And Running, and a perfect record against Overpass in head-to-head races. Mazu, meanwhile, has never beaten the champion and has always finished second in their only meeting. On Saturday, the remaining members of The Everest team will attempt to challenge Nature Strip for the first time. Trainer Joe Pride is feeling confident about Saturday's big race thanks to Eduardo's track record against Nature Strip.
"I feel like it has been overlooked that Eduardo has beaten Nature Strip on quite a few occasions," Pride said.
"No other horse in the Everest field has actually beaten Nature Strip before. Head-to-head clashes mean a lot. At the end of the day, you can compare races on different days but when horses have met it is a pretty good comparison,” he stated further.
The oldest horse in this year's Everest field is the 9YO Eduardo, who has already beaten Nature Strip three times at Randwick: in the Challenge Stakes (2021 & 2022) as well as in The Shorts (2021). Nonetheless, Nature Strip has defeated Eduardo four times out of five in their 1200m Randwick meetings, including last year's The Everest.
"To be fair, I think 1200m at Randwick is Nature Strip's best distance," Pride said. He commented further, "I would like to meet Nature Strip over 1200m at Rosehill although they are not about to move The Everest. But we know Eduardo can perform at a level to beat Nature Strip. We know we can beat him. They are not machines and maybe Nature Strip might have an off day and we are going there with a horse that has the best chance to beat him."
Although Eduardo ran only fourth behind Nature Strip in The Shorts last start but Pride is convinced his stable star can bounce back from that defeat.
"I dislike horses coming off peak runs into their Grand Final," Pride said.
"On the back of his last start run, I feel he can put in a really great performance on Saturday,” he opined.
Pride's confidence soared after he watched Eduardo win a Warwick Farm barrier trial last Friday.
"Eduardo is a horse that doesn't trial up to his race day ability," Pride said
"But from what I have seen from him in that trial he is fresh and wanted to get on with it. He wanted to blow off some steam and I loved the way he picked up in his trial. I watched that trial with the biggest grin on my face – I truly believe Eduardo is in the best conditions he has ever been in his life,” Pride stated.