Private Harry flies to Galaxy glory
Darley’s dual-hemisphere stallion Harry Angel (Dark Angel) sired his second Group 1 winner on Saturday when his son Private Harry confirmed his status as a top-tier sprinter, extending his perfect record to five in The Galaxy at Rosehill, writes Mary-Jo Jackson.
Despite not having a stakes victory to his name, the colt had already established himself as a standout three-year-old when he took out his first city win at Rosehill in December just as stylishly as his first two minor victories at provincial tracks the month previous.
His rapid rise was underlined in January with a scintillating success in the Sunshine Coast’s inaugural $3 million slot race, the Sunlight Stakes, defeating last year’s Group 1 Golden Slipper winner Lady Of Camelot in the process.
In the hands of regular rider Ashley Morgan, Private Harry was sent off the $3.50 favourite to add a Group 1 to his burgeoning record on Saturday and once again he delivered, issuing his challenge early in the home straight and asserting to beat last year’s third Front Page (Magnus) by three-quarters of a length in the 1100-metre contest, with a neck back to Uncommon James (Cable Bay) in third.
The Galaxy win marked a Group 1 first not only for Private Harry, but also for Morgan, his trainer Nathan Doyle and his Kurrinda Bloodstock syndicate of owners.
Doyle now has major plans for the colt, with a crack at the Group 1 T.J. Smith Stakes on April 5 his immediate focus. As for the valuable colt’s future plans, the prospect of running in the world’s richest race on turf – the Group 1 Everest – later in the year is now firmly on his agenda.
“Ka Ying who?” Doyle joked in reference to Hong Kong’s star sprinter Ka Ying Rising, the current Everest favourite.
“No, this is where you want to be, taking on the big boys and I think he deserves his opportunity. So he’ll go to the T.J. in a couple of weeks and I’d say he’ll be back in the paddock and hopefully go to an Everest.”
The Newcastle-based trainer was thrilled to achieve his biggest success in combination with Welsh-born jockey Morgan.
“We’ve come a long way,” he said. “To stick with him and see where he has ended up, Australia’s home to him now and we’re his family.
“To win a Group 1 with Ash, the staff, Kurrinda, it means so much. I said we were only scratching the surface with him [Private Harry], and we still are.”
With yesterday’s win, Private Harry’s matched the feats of Tom Kitten, Harry Angel’s other Group 1 winner, who also raced at yesterday’s Rosehill meeting, finishing fifth behind Gringotts in the Group 1 George Ryder Stakes.
Meanwhile, Stretan Angel, a Group 2-winning daughter of the stallion, finished fourth in the Group 1 William Reid Stakes at Moonee Valley.
However, the son of Dark Angel looks to have another talented performer in the shape of the progressive Group-placed Ouroboros who added a third win to his record in handicap company at Kembla Grange.
The sire, who shuttles between Dalham Hall Stud in Newmarket and Northwood Park in Victoria, now has 18 stakes winners to his credit, with six of those coming in Australia.
“Harry Angel’s rise shows no signs of slowing,” Darley Australia’s head of stallions Alastair Pulford told ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday. “Australia’s youngest top ten sire proves it again with Private Harry’s dominant win in The Galaxy.”
“He’s producing elite horses and today is proof of that – not just with Private Harry, but with Tom Kitten and Angel Capital too. This is what it’s all about – connections coming together to celebrate a first Group 1 for the trainer, syndicate and jockey.”
Bred by Rheinwood Pastoral out of three-time winner Happy Pilgrim, Private Harry was a $115,000 purchase for Nathan Doyle and Kurrinda Bloodstock at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale in 2023.
A daughter of Congrats, Happy Pilgrim herself was purchased by Bill Mitchell and Rheinwood for $75,000 out of Willow Park Stud’s 2018 Magic Millions Broodmare Sale draft, and on Saturday her son became the latest of 13 stakes winners and four Group 1 winners to have been produced by Willow Park sale graduates this year.
Harry Angel sits in seventh in the general sires’ table, with his three stakes scorer and 49 winners helping to pocket $9,772,729 in prize-money.