Pike gets it right with Eliud

Tony Pike has formed a strong opinion of Eliud and his confidence in the three-year-old’s Wanganui prospects proved on the money.The Cambridge trainer had tipped the son of Almanzor as a top winning hope against his own age group over a mile and the gelding never looked in any trouble.Off the back of a runaway maiden success at New Plymouth, Eliud handled a rise in class with aplomb to stroll home under co-topweight of 57kg in the hands of Michael McNab.“He’s a horse that has always showed a lot of promise but was a little immature and he’s strengthening now,” Pike said.“He’s a really progressive staying type and he will only get better as he goes up in trip.“We thought he could have been a Queensland Derby horse a couple of months ago, but it just came up too soon.”The gelding bounced well for an uncontested lead and stayed on too well for his rivals to score by three and a-half lengths.“He’s come back so well this preparation and the main aim was to keep him comfortable and not break stride and he picked up really well,” McNab said.Eliud was bred by Kevin Hickman and sold through Valachi Downs’ draft at New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sale for $320,000 to Waikato Bloodstock on behalf of Hong Kong interests.He is a son of the Rip Van Winkle mare Pendleton, whose four successes included the Listed Dunedin Gold Cup, and she is from the family of the G1 Telegraph Handicap winner Adventador.