Joe Pride has one burning question he wants Ceolwulf to answer this fall: is he a Group 1 horse over 2000 meters?
The gelding’s record offers conflicting data.
His four majors have been over a mile, but he does have an Australian Derby place in three, and a narrow win at Group 2 level in the middle distance as an older horse.
He has also been badly beaten in the last two extensions of the Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000 metres).
So as the laggard with a booming finish prepares to launch its five-start campaign at Randwick on Saturday, Pride is already planning how to solve the distance conundrum.
“With this preparation, I’m going to determine once and for all if he can run the 2,000 meters as well as he can run per mile,” Pride said.
“There’s no doubt he runs 2,000 meters, but is he as effective?
“And will he get the right setup for 2000? He never seems to get any speed, and that could be the deciding factor for him. Maybe he’ll get into a 2000-meter race that’s run a little differently and he’ll be a different horse.”
Ceolwulf will have two chances to prove his qualities in the middle distance: during his fourth run in the Australian Cup (2000m) in Flemington and during his campaign swan song in the Queen Elizabeth.
But first he must get through Saturday’s Apollo Stakes (1400m) and a clash with unbeaten mare Autumn Glow, along with her high-class stablemate Aeliana.
Ceolwulf has never won first place, but he has had some brutal races, including an eye-catching fourth place for Fangirl in the corresponding event twelve months ago, during a period when he was not racing at his best.
Pride believed there were a number of reasons why the gelding did not perform as expected last fall, and has taken steps to correct the main ones.
“I’m convinced one of them was that I had it too big,” he said.
“I had him weigh about 530 kilos last time during his first run and he is now 510. I don’t really believe in a fighting weight for a horse, but with this horse there is just a weight that he runs well at and that is around (510 kilos).”
As for Saturday, Ceolwulf is expected to do his best work late and Pride will be satisfied with a finish “in the first four or five”.
He will then race every fortnight with the end goal being to have him at his peak for his final two campaign runs, with performances shaping the rest of his career.
“My goal is always to find the perfect formula for each horse, and I will repeat that all day long,” Pride said.
“That’s why I want to work it out with Ceolwulf. I don’t want to waste any more time running him in 2000 meter races if he can’t perform at his best at that distance.”
“If I have to, I’ll take him a step further for the rest of his life. I just have to find out.”
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