Brave call: Pride’s coal city specialist primed for fitting farewell

Detailed summary

Part-owner Brave Pride would not be surprised to see stable favourite Coal Crusher bow out with a third win in the Hunter on Saturday.

Budding trainer Brave Pride realises Coal Crusher is coming to the end of the line and, on form, he should not be pushing for a third win and fitting finale in The Hunter on Saturday.

Still, the son of Warwick Farm trainer Joe Pride can’t write off his nine-year-old Newcastle specialist.

Coal Crusher became the only horse to win the $1 million race twice when he repeated his front-running effort of 2023 last year. Those have been his only wins in the past three and a half years, a period featuring a third in the 2024 Hunter. He also won the Hunter consolation race in 2022.

The remarkable run on the same program accounts for almost half of the homebred Turffontein gelding’s $2.85 million in prizemoney.

Brave Pride, a part-owner in the horse, said Saturday’s Hunter was likely Coal Crusher’s last run, and he was thankful for “one hell of a ride”.

“It would be a nice to get a third Hunter, then they should name the consolation race the Coal Crusher,” he said.

“We’ve had better horses but not too many more memorable than him. He’s pretty awesome. He means a lot to us and this is his race every year.

“Chris Murphy, the manager of INXS, bred him. I think he sent him to Coolmore for a bit and they told him he was no good.

“He was a very weedy looking horse when he came to us, but he always showed a bit of ticker.

Opening of the article, excerpted from WAtoday. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.