IT’S a far cry from the bright lights of a $3m triumph at the Sunshine Coast a couple of Saturday evenings back.
The unbeaten colt has been enjoying a break since his stunning win in the $3m Magic Millions Sunlight Plate (1100m) on January 4, when the meeting had to be transferred from the Gold Coast to the Sunshine Coast.
But life on the farm will be all too brief as he is to be loaded onto a float tomorrow morning to return to trainer Nathan Doyle’s stables at Broadmeadow.
It will be back to business as Doyle readies Private Harry for a first-up tilt at the $1m The Galaxy (1100m) at Rosehill Gardens on March 22.
With earnings already of more than $1.3m from only four starts, this will be his first test at Group 1 level.
“Private Harry will have a couple of trials leading up to The Galaxy,” Doyle’s racing manager David Dyson said.
“We believe he will get 50kg, and RacingNSW is yet to officially announce the colt’s new benchmark rating following his Sunlight win (which was a slot race for three-year-olds).
“That will have an important bearing on Private Harry’s chances of making the field.”
Private Harry’s benchmark was 75 after his previous Rosehill Gardens victory in a 3YO Benchmark 72 Handicap (1200m) on December 7, and no doubt it will rise substantially, especially considering his trouncing of two classy “girls”, last year’s $5m Golden Slipper Stakes winner Lady Of Camelot and $1m Magic Millions National 2YO Classic winner Arabian Summer.
Twelve of the 14 horses who contested last year’s The Galaxy had ratings beyond 100 (winner Zapateo was 108), and the lowest benchmark starter was $61 chance Derry Grove (92), who ran 13th.
Whilst there hasn’t been posted an early market on The Galaxy, such was the domination of Private Harry’s Sunlight victory that he is at $15 with TAB.com.au for the $20m The Everest (1200m) at Royal Randwick on October 18.
Meanwhile, Doyle is assembling an excellent group of young horses for Sydney’s autumn carnival.
Private Harry isn’t the only one returning to Broadmeadow tomorrow. So too is the talented four-year-old mare Wooloowin, who was the first leg of a Sunshine Coast double on December 4.
The daughter of Capitalist also was impressive in taking the $250,000 MM Rising Stars 3 & 4YO Fillies & Mares Class 4 Plate (1300m), posting her fourth win from only seven starts.
“Nathan is aiming Wooloowin at the Provincial-Midway Championships series,” Dyson said.
She will be joined by yesterday’s Rosehill Gardens winner Midnight Opal, who lifted his career tally to four by gamely fighting back to land the Benchmark 88 Handicap (1300m) on soft ground (he also has won on good and heavy tracks).
Having each won four races, Wooloowin and Midnight Opal are eligible for the series which begins at Hawkesbury on February 20 with a 1400m Qualifier (the first two horses go into the $1m Final at Randwick on April 12) for both eligible provincial and Midway-trained horses.
Classy three-year-old filly Harlem Queen has beaten both Private Harry and Wooloowin back to Doyle’s home base.
She returned to the stables last Tuesday, having been spelled after finishing fourth in the Group 1 VRC Oaks (2500m) at Flemington on November 7.
After clinching her first two wins at Newcastle (1200m) and Kembla Grange (1400m) in September, Harlem Queen ran second in the Group 1 Flight Stakes (1600m) and fourth in the Group 1 Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) – both at Randwick – in October, and then tackled the longer 2500m Oaks in Melbourne.
Story John Curtis, January 19, 2025 - Pics supplied
Comentarios