By Ray Hickson
Trainer Joe Pride isn’t wasting any time in testing out what the future may hold for promising Godolphin filly Taxation by skipping a number grades with her at Rosehill on Wednesday.

Trainer Joe Pride (Pic: Bradley Photos).
Pride, fresh from his first Group 1 win for Godolphin with Attica in the Spring Champion Stakes, is adamant Taxation has a good share of ability and will use the Calerie Life Sprint (1100m) to shore up his thoughts.
The three-year-old made an impressive debut when winning a maiden at Hawkesbury as favourite earlier this month and Pride elected to come straight to a Benchmark 72 in town.
“I’ve never minded doing that when I’ve got horses that have the quality,’’ he said.
“If you think a horse is on a trajectory to being a black type horse it’s a bit different. I don’t mind chancing my arm and finding out, you can always come back.
“For this filly I would have thought the autumn would be a good for her and we need to find out how good she is now and get her benchmark up.”
It’s a pointer to his opinion that he scratched the filly from a Class 1 at Hawkesbury on Tuesday to run in a Benchmark 72 against some seasoned rivals.
Taxation, $6 with TAB on Tuesday, is the first foal of Group 3 winner Amercement and Pride said when he was looking over the horses Godolphin sent to his stable she was one that stood out.
“She’s the best filly they’ve given me. She’s a really nice filly, quality, she’s got so much going for her it’s not funny,” he said.
“You shouldn’t get carried away, she’s had one start, but she’s got some serious potential this filly.
“She’s a beautiful, big, strong thing, by the right sire, and got a deep pedigree so she’s ticking too many boxes not to be at least a good city class horse at the minimum I would have thought.”
Pride is hoping Brigidine Gal is just in a transition period from her three-year-old season because he can’t explain the drop off in her form after being dual Group 3 placed earlier in the year.
She has another chance to bounce back in the Asahi Super Dry Handicap (1800m) after four unplaced runs in a variety of grades.
“She’s probably the disappointment of my spring carnival. I can’t put my finger on it, that’s why I keep racing her,’’ he said.
“I don’t know exactly where it’s gone wrong, I could throw some excuses at you in terms of the way some races have been run but I would have thought she’d have won a nice race by now.
“These three-year-olds into their four-year-old year, I’ve had plenty of them that might be stakes placed at three but it takes them six to 12 months to make a better class horse and that might be her.”
A shower or two in the lead up to the meeting would see Pride’s confidence soar that Just Glamorous can show her true form with a drop in grade into the Calerie Life Handicap (1400m).
Taxation wins at Hawkesbury on October 9
The mare was well supported when making her debut for Pride two weeks ago but she beat one home in a 1200m dash where she didn’t get into the race at all.
“I want some rain for her, she’s going to be much better suited on wet ground,’’ he said.
“The ground was far too firm for her the other day at Warwick Farm where they ran a track record. She’s a nice mare and I think if she gets wet ground she will run well.”
All the fields, form and replays for Wednesday’s Rosehill meeting