Joe Pridetrained four winner at Randwick on Saturday, but it wasn't Warwick Stakes winner Tiger Tess who had him buzzing - instead it was Terravista, a half-brother.
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After starting the day with a win by the Epsom-bound Rock Sturdy, Pride quinellaed the last of the day with Diamond Oasis and Green Beret, but it was Terravista who lived up to the boom he had put on him before the Show County Quality.
"Terravista, he's a star," Pride said. "Tiger Tees has hit his peak form but Terravista hasn't got there yet.
"I thought I was a big chance of winning two or three but when you do it then it's a different feeling."
Tiger Tees controlled a slowly run Warwick Stakes and even surprised his trainer by being strong at the end of the 1400 metres.
"That was a bonus because he was up against a class field. He's now won 13 and that's more wins than any other horse I've had as a trainer," Pride said.
"He's come back well against a classy field and the way he fought them off was super."
Tiger Tees held off Royal Descent and Criterion as the returning carnival horses all finished closer.
Chris Waller was pleased with runner-up Royal Descent and the efforts of Sacred Falls and Hawkspur, who ran fourth and fifth.
"They did good jobs considering how the race was run and they're all going to improve going forward," Waller said.
In what developed into a sprint home Criterion also found the line well.
"You couldn't ask for anything more and I'm very happy with him," said Criterion's jockey Hugh Bowman.
Pride has always had group 1 ambitions with Terravista, and that hasn't changed, but this campaign he'll keep him to the sprints with the perhaps the VRC Sprint Classic at Flemington on November 8 his spring goal.
"He's unbeaten first-up and is a super horse fresh," Pride said.
Terravista will next race in The Shorts in a month at Randwick, then the Premiere Stakes a fortnight later before heading to Melbourne.
Bowman said the plan to stick to the sprints would allow the Captain Rio five-year-old to show off his true ability.
"When he gets to 1500 metres he's not as dynamic as he is at the 1200 metres," he said.
Earlier in the day, Pride and Bowman combined for Rock Sturdy's win in his first test in the wet.
But Pride was keen to see if the stallion can raise the bar again.
"He's dead lazy," Pride said. "I couldn't get him going at all. I gave him three trials and I had to put the blinkers on him to even get him going in a trial.
"He went to the races with the blinkers on the first time, which I never do. He's dead lazy, but a beautiful horse. He's got a lovely way about him."
