Joe Pride was always going to be Walter’s Guy

Joe Pride and syndicators Proven Thoroughbreds celebrated their biggest win with Think About It in the Stradbroke Handicap and they have late-trainer Guy Walter to thank.

Guy Walter’s brother Jamie is the founder and director of Proven Thoroughbreds, and it was a conversation Jamie had with Guy than eventually led him to Pride.

“Joe and Guy always got on well. Guy told me once Joe was the only young trainer at Warwick Farm who ever asked him questions,” Jamie Walter said.

“That resonated with me when we tragically lost Guy. Joe even stepped up and took over the lease of Guy’s stables for twelve months just to ease the transition, and that was a great gesture.”

Walter eventually approached Pride to train Proven Thoroughbred’s Sydney team and the Warwick Farm horseman was happy to oblige.

The partnership has gone from strength to strength, top sprinter Private Eye finishing a narrow second in last year’s Everest while Think About it has emerged as arguably the most promising sprinter in Australia.

His Stradbroke victory was his ninth win from 10 starts and he has already secured an Everest slot this spring.

Walter isn’t surprised by Pride’s success and says like Guy, Pride has a patient approach to training.

“In terms of similarity, Joe has modelled himself on John Size and that’s a model that doesn’t push horses, early especially. That was Guy’s approach,” Walter said.

“They have different training methods in as much as Guy learnt under Bart Cummings and probably worked the horses more.

“But there was a lot of mutual respect between the two, so he was an obvious one for us to link up with.

“Guy was very hands on and so is Joe.”

Think About It gave both Pride and Proven Thoroughbreds their first Stradbroke Handicap, atoning for the luckless defeat of Private Eye 12 months earlier.