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By Ray Hickson

Fitness isn’t going to be an issue for smart sprinter Big Parade when he makes his long overdue return at Rosehill on Saturday, that’s one thing his new trainer Joe Pride can be sure of.

Trainer Joe Pride (Pic: Bradley Photos)

It’ll be almost 16 months since Big Parade’s last start when the Group 2 $300,000 Toyota Forklifts Missile Stakes (1200m) is run but in the time he’s been in Pride’s care he’s come to learn he’s been handed a talent.

In his last season of racing (21-22) the ex-Mark Newnham gelding won the Group 3 Sydney Stakes and mixed it with Everest horses when fourth behind his now stablemate Eduardo in the Classique Legend Stakes, and he was narrowly beaten in Shelby Sixtysix’s Group 1 Galaxy.

“He’s very well performed, I actually underestimated him and maybe didn’t have enough respect for him until I had a good look at his form,’’ Pride said.

“He’s a very good horse fresh and he doesn’t look like a horse that hasn’t raced for that amount of time.

“He’ll present really well in the enclosure and he’s a bloody good horse.

“He’s had an interesting past 12 months. He had a spring preparation last year where he had a couple of trials and was tipped out and he’s had a winter into spring preparation where he’s had four trials.”

The latest of those trials has been well publicised and Pride warns against reading too much into it.

Big Parade won a 900m heat at Warwick Farm on July 24 by a whopping 21 lengths. As fast as a horse like Eduardo is he never won a trial by such a margin and Pride isn’t a fan of setting the trial track on fire.

But he said there were some circumstances that likely led to it.

“I think the opposition had the handbrakes on and he’s just a fit horse who was looking to do something and he did,’’ he said.

“He’s a fast horse and fast horses trial well. He’s been ready to go to the races for six weeks and he was dying to do some more.

“He was like a caged lion, we let him out and that’s what he did.”

The seven-year-old is one of three runners in the Missile for Pride and was $2.90 favourite with TAB on Thursday. He's a $34 chance in the TAB Everest market.

Dual Group 3 winner Argentia makes her stable debut and she’s a horse Pride has had his eye on for some time.

She’s trialled twice to Pride's liking and he says with a kind gate, a fast pace and a light weight, the Missile will afford her every chance to be competitive.

“I was rapt when John (Camilleri) rang me and gave me the opportunity to train her and I wasn’t disappointed when she came off the float,’’ he said.

“It’s the perfect scenario for her to show us she’s still got it.

Big Parade's 21 length trial win at Warwick Farm

“She’s mixed her form over her past couple of preps, there’s been glimpses but she’s mixed it, and this is her opportunity to go right on with it.”

Dragonstone, another ex-Newnham galloper, has had four starts for Pride, all at 1100m, and he’s using the Missile to give the horse the chance to run out 1200m at a good level.

He’s only been to the trip twice, he didn’t have a lot of luck but was well beaten in the Razor Sharp then ran third behind Missile rival I Am Me in the Canterbury Sprint back in the summer. He was a close second to Omni Man in the July Sprint two weeks ago.

“He’s got to run the 1200m out but if he’s going to do it, it’ll be while he’s rock hard fit,’’ he said.

“He’s also got to rise a couple of classes against some well performed horses.

"If he can run 1200m I can place him appropriately after that, if he can’t we’ll freshen him up and find some short course sprints through the carnival.”

All the fields, form and replays for Saturday's Rosehill meeting