Fresh off Coal Crusher’s $1 million The Hunter triumph, Joe Pride is hoping to extend his stable’s spring momentum into The Gong (1600m) next weekend.

The trainer confirmed Estadio Mestalla will back up after his fast-finishing sixth behind Coal Crusher at Newcastle.

“Estadio Mestalla was super coming down the outside late,” Pride said. “He’ll run in The Gong. He’s got a very good record on the back-up.”

The gelding was successful at the corresponding Kembla Grange meeting last year, winning a benchmark-88 mile after missing a spot in The Gong.

Pride noted the parallels with Coal Crusher, who claimed a benchmark race on The Hunter program in 2022 before returning to win the feature 12 months later.

“He missed out last year and he won the consolation with about 62 kilos,” Pride said. “Which is what Coal Crusher did before her won The Hunter. He won the benchmark race on the same day.”

A Listed Winter Stakes winner in July, Estadio Mestalla impressed first-up when scoring over 1100m at Randwick on Melbourne Cup Day.

He is among 35 entries for The Gong, headed by last year’s winner Gringotts and Ciaron Maher-trained Duke De Sessa.