The relentless nature of racing had caught up with Joe Pride after more than 20 years in the industry.
The daily grind of producing winners, which were still coming, had worn him down as he approached 50.
He needed something to change. In the end, it was not a change in horses or staff, but the journey of his teenage son, Brave, entering the stable that lifted Pride’s energy and focus.
“Brave’s enthusiasm was what re-engaged me with the horses,” Pride said. “I don’t want to sound ungrateful about what racing has given me because it has allowed my family to have a good life, but it is relentless.”
“I was just feeling that, more and more, but when Brave came into the stable it changed it for me.”
“I had someone to talk to, who loved it, made me remember what that was like, and that made training what it used to be for me.”
“I was thinking about the horses more because I was explaining things to him, and helping him learn. It made a difference.”
Pride, now 53, has had his best springs and consequently his best seasons in the past three years. But there is something that does not sit well with him about those years.
It is something he will try to fix from the 12 million dollar prizemoney base he has built this spring. It is a year where he has already matched his best Group 1 performance through Attica and Ceolwulf.
“We have to maintain the rage,” Pride said. “I have had good springs for the past three years, and the autumns haven’t been good at all for some reason.”
“You want consistency, and the autumn is where we can improve, and I think we will this year.”
Pride is known as a trainer who gets the best out of hand-me-down horses, but those close to him talk about the man behind the results.
Proven Thoroughbreds boss Jamie Walter says Pride is a great physical trainer, but his mental application with his horses sets him apart.
“I used to talk with [my brother] Guy a lot about the next good trainer, and Joe’s name was always at the top of his list,” Walter said. “When Guy died, Joe took over his stable for about a year, and it was the mark of the man that he did that.”
“I think everyone knows Joe is a great trainer, and a lot of it’s because he gets into the head of the horses.”
“He understands them mentally, which is a big advantage.”
It was that edge that led Pride to The Everest with Think About It a couple of years ago.
However, it has been the chance to get better stock this year, mainly through being one of Godolphin’s chosen trainers, that has delivered a level of success Pride had not seen before.
Attica’s Spring Champion Stakes win gave him Group 1-winning colt, which will become a stallion, and he is not finished yet.
“These Godolphin horses are exciting every time a new one walks into the yard,” Pride said. “They are athletes.”
“Attica hasn’t reached anywhere near his level and I’m excited about him next year.”
Godophlin has been delighted with the results from Pride and it’s a partnership that will endure.
“Watching Joe for an extended period, it was obviously he was a great horseman,” Godolphin’s racing manager Jason Walsh said.
“That view has been vindicated in the short period we have worked with him. He talks about a horse’s strengths but its weaknesses and tailors his training to the horse.”
“He is of the view that a happy horse will race better, and being with the horses every day, he finds things that help them get better.”
While the success has come in the spring, Pride has been looking to 2026 and believes the support team behind Attica and Ceolwulf will blossom over the next couple of months.
“I have never had a group of three-year-olds like I have this season, there are a lot of smart ones there,” he said.
“It would be disappointing if there isn’t a couple of very good horses there, maybe not an Attica, but we have a bit to look forward to,”
Pride also has Ceolwulf, perhaps the best miler in the country, along with Headley Grange and evergreen Private Eye who keep him at the top of racing.
The Pride yard has already won five million dollar races this season and with Estadio Mestalla in The Gong on Saturday and Private Eye in the Supernova next month, he might not be finished yet.
Pride admitted he would have been surprised if you told him Estadio Mestalla would be the second pick for The Gong at the beginning of the preparation.
But a first-up win at Randwick was followed by a closing sixth in the Hunter last week to have him ready for the mile at his peak. He sits only behind the defending champion Gringotts in the betting.
“Outside the favourite it’s a race with limited chances, and I think I’m taking one of them to Kembla,” Pride said.
“He won on this day last year in the consolation with 62 kilos, and he is going really well.”
“I was disappointed with the draw [of 19], and it means we probably have to push forward and try to find a spot.”
“However, this horse goes good for Adam [Hyeronimus], who has won twice on him and I think that is important.”
Pride has chances throughout the day with Weeping Woman, a favourite in a support race, while Dragonstone and The Black Cloud look to cash in in The Warra.
“The Black Cloud is a mare that is very good early in her preps, and any rain will help her chances,” Pride said. “She has trialled well, while Dragonstone was just beaten by Headwall in this race last year.”
“It is a good day to go to races when you have chances like them going with you.”
