Pride Of Jenni completes remarkable comeback in Group 2 Peter Young Stakes at Caulfield

Pride Of Jenni owner Tony Ottobre returned serve to the doubters after his mare capped her miracle return with a dominant win in the Peter Young Stakes.

Pride Of Jenni’s winning comeback has jockey Craig Newitt pumped. Picture: Racing Photos via Getty Images

The comeback is complete.

Now for the main events for Pride Of Jenni.

The reigning Australian Horse of the Year returned a winner on Saturday with victory in the Group 2 Peter Young Stakes (1800m) at Caulfield.

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The multiple Group 1 winner, trained by Ciaron Maher, led by five lengths in a controlled manner early under jockey Craig Newitt and sustained the gallop late to hold a comfortable margin.

Zardozi, who spotted the leader up to 12 lengths in the back straight, wound up strongly late to run second, beaten 2¾ lengths.

Assistant trainer Jack Turnbull said the Australian Cup (2000m) at Flemington in a fortnight would be considered for Pride Of Jenni before attention turned to Sydney.

Pride Of Jenni is BACK! 🤩

She returns in spectacular style to win the Peter Young Stakes! @cmaherracing@craig_newittpic.twitter.com/kX6e51Wdp0

— 7HorseRacing 🐎 (@7horseracing) March 15, 2025

“Given the way she’s run there and won, the Australian Cup would have to be looked at for sure.

“In Sydney you’ve got races like the Queen Of The Turf, if you come back in trip slightly, and then the Queen Elizabeth would be her ultimate grand final.

“For the moment we’ll just savour this win, it’s a great effort and thankfully we have her back.”

Pride Of Jenni suffered a bleed in the Champions Mile last year at Flemington and was retired on the spot by passionate owner Tony Ottobre.

However, Pride Of Jenni thrived at Ottobre’s Mornington Peninsula property and warranted a return to work after a good spell.

Pride Of Jenni slotted back into her old stable routine and continued to impress.

“We’ve got a lot of information on her, a lot of workouts to compare and we’d done certain workouts that were pretty tough in our standards and she bounced through them,” Turnbull said.

MRC chairman John Kanga sprays champagne on owner Tony Ottobre and jockey Craig Newitt after Pride Of Jenni’s win. Picture: Vince Caligiuri/Getty Images

“Ciaron was there a few times and scratched his head and thought, hang on, we’re a bit more forward than we think we are.

“We just kept putting the pressure on and she just kept stepping up, even throughout this week, she had a good bit of work on the Saturday, and again on the Tuesday.

“She is just a freak of nature, she’s a credit to herself.”

Ottobre welcomed the result after the high-pressure build-up.

“There’s been a lot of doubt thrown up against her by certain people and punters, which is unfortunate,” Ottobre said.

“We’re not actually bringing her here to lose a race, we’re bringing her here to win a race and we wouldn’t be coming unless she’s 110 per cent.

“She wouldn’t be here if she wasn’t right, she’s more valuable than money to us. She’s precious.”

Originally published as Pride Of Jenni completes remarkable comeback in Group 2 Peter Young Stakes at Caulfield