Joe Pride is looking to the spring full of confidence after three-year-old Neeson thrashed his opposition in the Listed Hawkesbury Guineas.Pride has a huge opinion of Neeson and said he's clearly showing Group One ability, highlighted by his 4-1/2 length demolition job in the $100,000 1400m feature at Hawkesbury.The trainer will aim Neeson at the Group One Epsom Handicap in the spring as well as the Melbourne carnival.After being beaten by Star Of Octagonal in the South Pacific Classic at Randwi

Joe Pride is looking to the spring full of confidence after three-year-old Neeson thrashed his opposition in the Listed Hawkesbury Guineas.

Pride has a huge opinion of Neeson and said he's clearly showing Group One ability, highlighted by his 4-1/2 length demolition job in the $100,000 1400m feature at Hawkesbury.

The trainer will aim Neeson at the Group One Epsom Handicap in the spring as well as the Melbourne carnival.

After being beaten by Star Of Octagonal in the South Pacific Classic at Randwick last start, Pride made sure new jockey Peter Robl rode the son of Mossman like he was the best horse in the race this time.

The gelding jumped to the front, controlled the speed and never gave anything else a look in as he raced right away on the turn and kept going.

Khas Kura was a distant second with another length to All Legal in third.

Pride didn't nominate Neeson for the Brisbane winter carnival races, taking away the temptation because he thinks he has a Group One horse for the future and doesn't want to bottom him out as a three-year-old.

"I just want to give the horse a rest," Pride said.

"We'll target the Epsom Handicap for sure, he's going to be that good.

"I've had a big opinion of him since the moment he walked into the stable and it's a no-brainer, you look at him and he's just an athlete."

Pride said he was confident he was doing the right thing by not continuing on to Brisbane for the winter.

"You might say you only get one chance to run in a Stradbroke as a three-year-old but I just think there's bigger things at foot for him," he said.

"When you look at the big picture, I like racing horses at five, six and seven years old and if we bottom him out as a three-year-old we won't have a horse next year."

The victory was also a special moment for Robl who scored his first stakes win since returning to the saddle in recent weeks from a broken collarbone.

He rode Neeson to victory at Rosehill last October in his only other ride on the horse.

"He ran super today," Robl said.

"It's sensational to be back. There's no joy in sitting on the couch injured watching them win. It's good to be back doing what I love."