Private Eye Catches Rivals Napping in G2 Lawrence Stakes

Trainer Pride's 8YO strikes winning form in Melbourne after missing Sydney's feature race

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MELBOURNE — An early call to head to Melbourne for a stakes race has paid dividends for the connections of Private Eye.

Trainer Joseph Pride made the call to run Private Eye in the A$300,000 (S$250,000) Group 2 PB Lawrence Stakes (1,400m) instead — after his last winning trial at Warwick Farm last week — when Racing New South Wales cancelled the Group 2 Missile Stakes (1,200m) at Randwick on Aug 9 due to the prevailing wet weather in Sydney.

The move proved a winning one as Private Eye ($14) scored from barrier to box at Caulfield on Aug 16.

Sent out from gate seven under Nash Rawiller, the Al Maher eight-year-old gelding led throughout in the field of nine, before eventually scoring by two lengths from Desert Lightning (Ben Melham). Here To Shock (Daniel Stackhouse) finished another half a length away in third.

Private Eye — whose greatest triumph came in the 2021 Group 1 Epsom Handicap (1,600m) at Randwick — was at only his second start in 2025, having finished third to War Machine in the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap (1,400m) at Eagle Farm on June 14.