1 day Ago By Neil Evans
Fresh off three wins from his last four runners, Newcastle trainer Nathan Doyle is determined to keep the ball rolling when one of the most exciting sprinters to hit his stable in years lines up at Thursday’s Hawkesbury meeting. Private Harry, an untapped colt by star UK sprint sire Harry Angel and out of the Congrats mare Happy Pilgrim, reloads in a Provincial Benchmark 64 Hcp over 1100m to close the card. Newcastle trainer Nathan Doyle is off to Hawkesbury on Thursday.
Credit: Getty And naturally, early betting markets suggest Private Harry will continue on his winning ways, opening as an odds-on favourite after destroying a handy Super Maiden field at Newcastle earlier this month. Punters were given a further pointer when Doyle scratched him from a winnable race at Wednesday’s Canterbury meeting to save him for Hawkesbury. Doyle told Racing NSW that given Private Harry wasn’t blessed with early speed, he was concerned about the inside draw at Canterbury, instead preferring Hawkesbury where he draws in the middle and can more easily get to the outside of runners in the dash home.
Private Harry’s impressive arrival on the track was almost a sure thing after he had easily won both lead-up trials, the latest running nearly 55 seconds flat with something in hand over 940m, and winning by nearly five lengths. He took that form into raceday clocking a very slick 32.17 secs for his final 600m in winning over 900m as a hot favourite.
And the step-up to BM 64 grade seems well within his reach, with Ashley Morgan again in the saddle. Doyle himself is in a nice little vein of form, with his latest two starters - Churchill’s Choice at Scone and Celestial Fury at Canterbury last Friday night - both saluting at good odds. A relatively cheap purchase at last year’s Inglis Classic Yearling Sales, Private Harry has certainly inherited plenty of his father’s powerhouse group 1-winning traits.
Meanwhile, another very lightly raced colt on the rise and coming off a first-up win can also continue on his merry way in a Class 1 Hcp over 1400m. Shangri La Spring, a three-year-old son of 2019 Cox Plate runner-up Castelvechhio in the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott stable at Randwick, steps up from a dominant barrier-to-box win at Kembla 16 days ago. Supplied by Racing NSW Full form and race replays available at racingnsw.
com.au.
