Joe Pride perplexed after Storm The Ramparts wins again at Rosehill
Storm The Ramparts continued his white-hot winter form with another easy win at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday.
Trainer Joe Pride's underrated Storm The Ramparts was simply too fast and too good for his chasing rivals in the 50 Year And Life Member Handicap (1100m).
Pride said he was surprised that form analysts and punters had taken a set against Storm The Ramparts primarily because the sprinter had been burdened with 62.5kg.
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'Punters' obsession with weight is ridiculous and sometimes they ignore the obvious,'' Pride said.
'Storm The Ramparts is a proper 78 grade proven horse and is flying. He's a ripper.
'We changed it up by bringing him to Rosehill as opposed to the Randwick 1000m but he went really well again. This horse is having a fantastic preparation.''
Storm The Ramparts ($4), ridden by Josh Parr, made light of his hefty handicap and led most of the way to score by just over a length from the fast finishing First Landing ($10) with Pokerjack ($13) a close third.
Godolphin's Tarpaulin was backed into $1.80 favouritism and after looming as a chance half-way down the straight he faded to finish nearly four lengths away in fourth placing.
Storm The Ramparts scored his third Sydney Saturday win (plus two seconds) from five starts this campaign and Pride said there is no reason not to keep the in-form sprinter in training through winter.
'He has been enjoying himself on these winter tracks of late, although he also performed very well on the dry last start,'' Pride said.
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'The July Sprint back here in a couple of weeks would not be out of the question. I won it with Eduardo a few years ago and I'm sure there is no Eduardo in the race this year.''
Storm The Ramparts had gone winless for 18-months under his form surge this winter but Pride explained that the sprinter had been troubled by a shoulder complaint.
'He was diagnosed with a shoulder problem that was bothering him so we gave him a decent break and he has come back in great form,'' Pride said.
'His half-brother, Dragonstone, got better as he got older and that is exactly the pathway this horse has been on.''
Meanwhile, Pride confirmed another of his stable's form sprinters, In Flight, will be chasing a hat-trick of stakes wins in the Group 3 $200,000 Sir John Monash Stakes (1100m) at Caulfield next Saturday.
Talented mare In Flight ran second to Dragonstone in the Listed Hawkesbury Rush before reeling off successive Listed wins in the Bright Shadow Quality and the Bob Charley AO Stakes.
'In Flight is super, she trialled at Kembla Grange during the week and is going great,'' he said.
Originally published as Joe Pride sprinter Storm The Ramparts unstoppable again at Rosehill
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