NO DENT IN THE ARMOUR YET AS THE HARROVIAN'S SUCCESSFUL CONQUEST OF QUEENSLAND CONTINUES

By Graham Potter | Tuesday, December 1, 2020

The Harrovian, who previously carried all before him in North Queensland, continued his successful and, so far, unstoppable conquest of South East Queensland with another remarkable win in the Listed Recognition Stakes at Doomben on Saturday.

In doing so, The Harrovian took his current winning sequence to ten straight wins.

His last defeat came on July 16, 2019. He has won from 1200m to 2100m. He has won four out of seven first-up, three out of six second-up. He has won eleven out of eighteen on good going, four out of ten on soft going and has one win from one start on heavy going. He has also carried as much as 67kg to victory and has only carried less than 59kg once in his last six starts. (Bear in mind, those statistics include the fourteen runs when The Harrovian was based in Victoria, where he wasn't travelling that well, prior to relocating to the Stephen Massingham yard in North Queensland, where his form changed dramatically).

So where is the flaw in his makeup.

“He doesn’t seem to have a weak spot anywhere,” confirmed jockey Brad Stewart, whose has the best seat in the house aboard The Harrovian in all three of his runs in Brisbane.

“He’ll be competitive in anything you run him in from 1200m to 2000m. He is very easy to ride and he is eager to please. He is seven-years old now and, given his form, there is no reason why he can’t carry on with it. He is certainly enjoying his racing. You wouldn’t count him out of anything.

“They say every time they win in a sequence they are one win closer to getting beat but you wouldn’t know that looking for him at the moment,” added Stewart.

There were some pundits who doubted The Harrovian on Saturday, on the back of that theory, but the son of Fastnet Rock quickly put that thinking back in its place, particularly with the manner in which he put his opposition away so swiftly and decisively.

“He is a big horse with a big stride. His size has to be an advantage for him when he has carries a big weight and when you combine that stride with his turn of foot, you can see why he is so hard to keep him out,” concluded Stewart.

Saturday’s outing was The Harrovian’s first run for the Toby and Trent Edmonds stable. The move was necessitated by the fact that the trainer who brought The Harrovian to the country’s attention, Stephen Massingham, is based in Cairns.

Logistically, it wasn’t really an option for Massingham to keep training him, but, make no mistake, Massingham was on hand at Doomben on Saturday to witness The Harrovian’s latest demolition job. He wouldn’t have missed it.

Co-trainer Toby Edmonds admitted to feeling a bit of pressure going into the race.

“Stephen’s done such a great job so there was a lot of pressure on us,” said Edmonds. “To be truthful, I thought today he might be a bit vulnerable … but Brad (Stewart) just rode him so well. It was a gun ride and even with the big weight he was far too strong.

“Ten in a row. That is a good winning record anywhere.

“This was his biggest test … with a big weight racing against some younger horses who had probably competed in better company than him and giving them weight … and then winning like that!

“Everything you throw in front of him he just does. At the stables there is also no stress, no fuss. He is a typical good horse. Works … eats … does what you want without fuss.

“I just want to thank Tom (Hedley) and Steve (Massingham) and the rest of the owners for giving us the chance to train him. He is like a baby to them so I can understand how they feel about him.

“He is heading towards the Bernborough now. He likes his race spaced a bit, so he won’t run now until the Bernborough.

“This was just a great effort!”

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