Multiple Group One winner Ceolwulf (NZ) (Tavistock) overcame a testing heavy track and 59.5-kilogram top-weight to prevail in a tight finish to Tuesday’s postponed A$300,000 G3 Precise Air Neville Sellwood Stakes (2000m) at Rosehill.

It was the fifth win from 18 career starts for the Joe Pride-trained gelding, who has banked now A$5,048,000m in stakes and a one off $750.000 Emerald bonus for winning both miles in the spring. He was a $170,000 purchase by Joe Pride and part-owner Leighton Howl from the 2022 Ready to Run Sale at Karaka. Ceolwulf has now earned in stakes more than 30 times that purchase price.

With a brief of finding a Guineas and Derby horse that year, Pride identified Ceolwulf at the Karaka sale with the help of Kingmakers Syndication founder Leighton Howl. Howl took the first 10 per cent in the horse with rest going to Pride’s loyal stable clients including principal owner Tim Unger who took 30% the remaining 60% spread across eight other’s.

“I have been going to the Karaka sales for 20 years and I’ve been going to the Ready to Run Sale for a long time too and I’ve looked at a lot of these Tavistocks, like a lot of us have,” Howl said. 

“He is probably the only young Tavistock that i have seen who looked like the sire when he was an actual racehorse. He was a standout on type. Joe loved the colt and following consultation with our local vet and his vet in Sydney overnight it was agreed he would sit as the top pick of a sharp list of only 4 horses to bid on.

Looking back, Ceolwulf at three years was runner-up in the G1 Rosehill Guineas (2000m) and Australian Derby (2400m) last autumn, then went to a whole new level with barnstorming come-from-behind triumphs in the G1 Epsom Handicap (1600m) and G1 King Charles III Stakes (1600m) in the spring at four years of age.

Yesterday in the Neville Sellwood Pride commented, "He didn't look as dynamic as we hoped, but it is difficult to give rock-hard fit, decent horses a lot of weight and still beat them, which he did. For sure, he has improvement to come.”

Pride agrees that a much better version of Ceolwulf will line up at Randwick for the A$5m Group One Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) on April 12.

“I wanted a good hitout for him over 2000 metres and he certainly got that,” Pride said. “That’s why I wanted to run him over 2000 metres. 

“He presented like he was going to win by a couple of lengths today, but he didn't do that. Chad (Schofield) rode him a treat, rode him beautifully. He had a big weight on testing ground and was jumping up 500 metres, so he'll take nice progression from this run.

“He's still presenting a little bit big. He was 522 kilograms when we put him on the scales yesterday. To put that into perspective, he was in the low 480s when he won the King Charles.”

By sire Tavistock, Ceolwulf was bred by Cambridge Stud and is a out of the Shamardal mare Las Brisas. Ceolwulf is a graduate of the 2022 New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale, where Joe Pride and part-owner Leighton Howl went to $170,000 to secure him from Riversley Park’s draft.