Joe Pride confident Think About It and Private Eye will bounce back after defeats at Royal Randwick on Saturday

Beaten favourites Think About It and Private Eye remain on track for The Championships despite frustrating defeats at Royal Randwick.

Joe Pride and Sam Clipperton in happier times.

Joe Pride is confident Think About It and Private Eye remain on track for their respective The Championships grand finals despite a character-building day that saw both stars beaten and their riders questioned at Royal Randwick.

Think About It, ridden by regular hoop Sam Clipperton, went under first up in the Group 1 Canterbury Stakes (1300m) on Saturday in a race where he was forced to work three-deep with no cover in the run.

It came after stablemate Private Eye had been dragged back to last before surging home to finish on the placegetters heels in the Group 2 Challenge Stakes with Nash Rawiller aboard.

Pride didn’t want to comment on either ride on Saturday but had time to reflect on the card when contacted by Racenet on Sunday morning.

“It was one of those days,” Pride said.

“It was always just a starting point for quite a few of mine (Saturday) but I couldn’t have pictured it unfolding quite the way it did.

“All seem to have come through it well and onwards into the carnival.”

"Lady Laguna causes an upset in the Canterbury Stakes."

A second Group 1 for @G1TySchil as the @OTIRacing four-year-old mare gets the better of the two favourites Think About It and Espiona in the 1300m feature at Randwick. @tabcomaupic.twitter.com/3w0JkS9UA8

— Racing NSW (@racing_nsw) March 9, 2024

On the day, Clipperton told stewards when questioned Think About It started to overrace from the moderate tempo and that it would be detrimental to fight against him near the rear of the field.

It forced Think About It to race in a three-wide line from the 700m, a move Pride thought proved costly.

“I was disappointed, I thought the horse ran well but when you run 10 (seconds) and change from the 800m to the 600m, the 600m to the 400m and then the 400m to the 200m, I can tell you what is going to be left at the end when the horse is first-up,” he said.

Think About It ran 10.84 seconds between the 800m to the 600m and splits of 10.96 and 10.92 his next two furlongs before tiring late as Lady Laguna surged by.

Clipperton will likely get the chance to atone aboard Think About It in the Group 1 George Ryder Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill Gardens on March 23 en route to the Doncaster Mile on day one of The Championships.

Meanwhile, Private Eye was the first of Pride’s duo to go under as favourite in the Group 2 Challenge Stakes.

Passive Aggressive wins the Challenge Stakes for the second year in a row 👏 @JChilds47@Grahame_Beggpic.twitter.com/ALf1TmZnpb

— 7HorseRacing 🐎 (@7horseracing) March 9, 2024

It saw stewards question Rawiller, who felt the gelding failed to respond to riding at time and may not have been suited to a second 1000m run.

Private Eye went through his gears to clock the second fast last 600m of the meeting in 32.24 seconds, a 0.01 slower than Challenge Stakes winner Passive Aggressive. 

“Nash would probably want his time over again on Private Eye but I have seen a bit of stuff about it being the wrong race,” Pride said.

“I don’t know if it was the wrong race but I am yet to see horses dragged back in 1000m races and win.

“In the grand scheme of things, keeping him on track for the TJ Smith, it wasn’t a disaster.

“He has run well, come through it well and run an unbelievable last 600m but you can’t give away starts like that.”

Originally published as Joe Pride confident Think About It and Private Eye will bounce back after defeats at Royal Randwick on Saturday