Trainer Joe Pride saddles up Accredited, Estadio Mestalla in 2025 Winter Challenge at Rosehill

Trainer Joe Pride has been picking off winter features for fun and will be in prime position to continue his hot streak with Accredited and Estadio Mestalla on Saturday.

Trainer Joe Pride has been picking off winter features for fun and will be in prime position to continue his hot streak when Accredited and Estadio Mestalla chase Sydney’s final stakes race of the season at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday.

The in-form duo will give Pride plenty of firepower when they face off in the Listed $200,000 Winter Challenge (1500m).

Estadio Mestalla has already given Pride another feature success this month after causing a boilover to win the Listed Winter Stakes on July 5 at Rosehill Gardens.

It followed the stakes successes of Headley Grange (Civic Stakes) and In Flight (Bob Charley AO Stakes) in Sydney over the winter months.

• PUNT LIKE A PRO: Become a Racenet iQ member and get expert tips – with fully transparent return on investment statistics – from Racenet’s team of professional punters at our Pro Tips section. SUBSCRIBE NOW!

“Picking the right horse at this time of year is important,” Pride said.

“It’s easy to want to take a place in the carnival but for horse like In Flight, she might have run OK in the autumn but she was always going to be better placed in the winter period and got the reward.”

Pride finds it hard to split Accredited and Estadio Mestalla but expects the former will relish firmer conditions this time.

🥳 @PrideRacing ends the day with a double as
Accredited wins the last!@nashhot@ProvenTbreds@aus_turf_clubpic.twitter.com/PUswO9evJY

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 21, 2025

• ‘Ready to launch’: Grand result for Snowden’s spring hopeful

All of Accredited’s best form comes on drier ground but the son of All Too Hard still ran with plenty of merit on a soft 7 when third behind his stablemate and Robusto in the Winter Stakes.

“You can tend to tack a couple of lengths on with whatever Accredited did the other day with a firmer surface on Saturday,” Pride said.

“Estadio Mestalla has done well since his win the other day so I would have thought between those two and Bjorn’s horse Robusto, they would be fighting out the finish.

“I find it tough to split my two but I think the form out of that last run will be the key to this one this weekend.”

Estadio Mestalla is the star player in the Listed Winter Stakes and wins at big odds! ⚽️❄️

That's separate doubles to @PrideRacing and @djgibbons22 at Rosehill today! 🙌@aus_turf_clubpic.twitter.com/eWBClKpNP6

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) July 5, 2025

• Godolphin sells 25 horses for more than $2m

Another of Pride’s winter stars will look to continue his sensational run of form with Storm The Ramparts prepared for the Schweppes Sprint (1100m).

Storm The Ramparts has won three of his past four starts and lugged the heavyweight of 62.5kg to victory over the same track and trip on July 5.

He drops a massive 8.5kg this weekend with Reece Jones aboard.

“It’s a nice little weight drop for Storm The Ramparts,” Pride said.

“I will run him because he has drawn well (barrier five). If he hadn’t drawn well, I wouldn’t have.

“There is plenty of pressure in the race but he seems pretty quick.

“He might be here next week but we will see, we have to pull up stumps with him sooner or later.”

⛈️ Back-to-back Randwick wins for Storm The Ramparts as @PrideRacing trains the last three winners, and a double to Adam Hyeronimus! 🥳@aus_turf_clubpic.twitter.com/qBP014nBar

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 7, 2025

• ‘Took my breath away’: How Angela Jones wowed Gai Waterhouse

The Black Cloud is in the same race but the outside draw has Pride planning to wait until next week with the classy mare.

Pride will get the glimpse of his next generation when untapped filly Reflect ($21) has her second race start in the Traffic Warden @ Darley 2YO Handicap (1200m) with Dylan Gibbons booked.

Pride sees the daughter of So You Think as a filly for the future.

“Reflect is a really nice horse,” he said.

“I am not expecting her to win but expect to run well.

“I think the autumn will be her time but I think she is a good horse in the making.”

Little Cointreau ($7) leads a two-pronged attack alongside Excelladus ($26) in the Toyota Forklifts Benchmark 88 (1300m).

Nash gets the cash! 💰

Little Cointreau holds on to win Race 6 at Randwick Kensington in a photo finish 📸@[e-mail]/VgW9v5CgGU

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) July 17, 2024

• Rosehill trials lit up by early spring carnival contenders

Little Cointreau has been knocking at the door this preparation while Excelladus is desperate for a change of luck.

“Little Cointreau has been close and is thereabouts,” Pride said.

“He has possibly found his level but those sort of horses can still win races so hopefully it pans out well for him.

“Excelladus has been racing really well without any luck in his races so he won’t be too far away.”

Originally published as Trainer Joe Pride saddles up Accredited, Estadio Mestalla in 2025 Winter Challenge at Rosehill