Pride a big fan of Almanzor

Joseph Pride couldn’t hide his admiration for Almanzor following an impressive breakthrough success for his son Nosferatu on his home track.The Warwick Farm trainer is a paid-up member of our shuttle stallion’s fan club and is expecting his three-year-old, a graduate of the farm, to reach a decent mark once he steps out over more ground.“He’s a high-quality horse Almanzor, I really like him,” Pride said.Nosferatu was unplaced on debut following mediocre trial results, but those efforts hadn’t changed Pride’s opinion of his charge.“It’s only his second start and he’s a city winner now, he got beaten a furlong in a trial and I said to the connections don’t worry about that,” he said.“He’s taken a bit of time and is a gorgeous, big horse and over time he’ll stretch out over 2000 metres, I’m sure.”Nosferatu drifted back on the fence and when the field fanned out into the straight, the gelding lengthened stride in style along the rail for rider Jay Ford and they were out by two lengths at the end of 1600 metres.Bred by Finemore Thoroughbreds with Peter Maher and Gerry Ryan, he is a son of the English-bred High Chaparral mare Durack and the family of the multiple Group 1 winner and sire Lawman.