Weighing in at under 500kg, that V8 engine in Eduardo's small body was an amazing thing

It's was the fairytale story of the spring. A $4000 broodmare, a racehorse not broken in until he is four, a young trainer with her first good horse and an owner/breeder who couldn't believe his luck. The brilliant thoroughbred, Eduardo's remarkable rise from victory in a Moe maiden to Gr.2 Caulfield Sprint success in the space of four months is a delightful story of improbable success. A few years earlier, owner Nick Cresci had sent Blushing (Fantastic Light) and another mare he owned, Bucotic (Rubiton), to Swettenham Stud. Blushing had gone to Host, while Bucotic to Kaphero. Eduardo would be Blushing's last foal. Apparently they found her dead in the paddock from an apparent snakebite.

Despite his age, Eduardo had only 22 starts by the age of eight – and his relatively light race career has nothing to do with any injury concerns. Instead, Eduardo was left to roam in a paddock as a young horse. He wasn’t even broken in until he was four and didn’t make his race debut until almost the start of his five-year-old season.

Owner-breeder Nick Cresci revealed it was more circumstance than design that Eduardo was not broken in as a yearling, or as a two-year-old like most horses. The cost of training fees made keeping multiple horses in work impossible and Eduardo, who gave no indication of his ability, would have to wait a long time to show his talent. It didn't take long once he was broken in and put into work for Kaufmann, Zschoke and her partner and jockey Brian Park to realise they had something special. His trial at Cranbourne in 2018 before he went to Moe, he won by ten lengths. He then bolted in by six lengths on debut at Moe, before winning by 3.25L at Sandown next time out in a BM64. He resumed with a 2nd in an Open Handicap (1100m) at Caulfield before finishing a close second in the Gr.2 Gilgai Stakes (1200m) at Flemington and a further 2nd in a Gr.2 at Caulfield.

But later that season, Eduardo had run some ordinary races. He had lost form and this is when Galvin contacted Cresci to ask if he wanted to sell. They came to an arrangement where Cresci kept a decent slice of the horse and they syndicated the rest, to a syndicate called Buffto’s First Kiss. He was transferred to the Joe Pride stable and contested the Gr.1 Oakleigh Plate (1100m) at Caulfield in February 2019, running a creditable 3rd. Sadly he failed at Flemington in the Newmarket then ran 3rd at Caulfield again in a Listed event and 3rd in the McEwen Stakes at Moonee Valley. 2020 was a mixed bag of results, winning the July Sprint at Rosehill and the Gr.2 Missile Stakes there in August. He then ran 2nd to Classique Legend in the Gr.2 Furniture Shorts (1100m) before his first Everest.

Eduardo was coming off a late winter campaign in Sydney when he finished unplaced in his first Everest attempt in 2020, and off a Queensland carnival prep when third to Nature Strip. The gelding had three shots at The Everest, the first two with Redzel winning it twice (2017-18) and Nature Strip in 2019.  

Around his first and second Everest in 2021, he did win the Gr.2 Challenge Stakes (1000m) at Randwick, ran 2nd to Nature Strip in the TJ Smith and beat home Lost and Running to win a 1300m event at Rosehill. Eduardo did win nicely in the Gr.3 Concorde Stakes at Randwick in September 2022, but his last decent result was in March 2023, running a strong 2nd to Passive Aggressive in the Gr.2 Challenge Stakes, beating home Giga Kick. Despite his age, Eduardo was raced sparingly, therefore remained highly competitive as he grew older. He was clearly at his peak when it mattered most, delivering top performances when they were desired the most. When you've danced with the world's best sprinters and prevailed, you don't fear too many challengers.

The evergreen 10-year-old sprinter was blessed with brilliant speed and still commands his place as one of Aussies best ever sprinters having come up against some remarkably gifted horses. Eduardo is the modern-day Scamanda. He was born to be a racehorse and still had that the desire to compete at the top level, even as an ageing galloper. Eduardo had a 5-8 record against his arch-rival Nature Strip in their 13 clashes, which his trainer described as "not too bad." Eduardo contested 35 races for 12 wins, two at Group 1 level in The Galaxy and Doomben 10,000, earning $7.926 million prizemoney, which is a fairly decent haul. Eduardo's trainer Joe Pride retired his remarkable 10-year-old sprinter after finishing fourth (Nature Strip ran sixth) in Remarque's Concorde Stakes.

RACE RECORD - 35: 12-5-6

EARNINGS - $7,926, 650

Gr.1 The Galaxy

Gr.1 Doomben 10,000