Owners target Royal Ascot glory with Private Harry after Everest deal

A shot at the King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot next year is on the radar for Private Harry after the unbeaten colt secured an Everest slot and his stud future with Yulong Investments.

Sean Driver, director of the Hunter-based Kurrinda Bloodstock – which paid just $115,000 for the son of Harry Angel at the 2023 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale – confirmed on Saturday a deal to sell 50 per cent of the group 1 Galaxy winner to Yulong.

Ash Morgan salutes on Private Harry in their group 1 Galaxy win on March 22.Credit: Getty Images

Private Harry, now with almost $2 million in earnings from five wins, will race in Yulong’s slot in the $20 million The Everest (1200m) in October at Randwick and later stand at stud for the racing giants.

As part of the deal, Nathan Doyle will continue training Private Harry, which gave jockey Ash Morgan and the Newcastle trainer their maiden group 1 success in the Galaxy last weekend at Rosehill.

“He’s got a stud career for life now, and we get to race on with great people,” Driver said. “Obviously Mr [Yuesheng] Zhang and Yulong Investments, they are a big investor in the industry now and we couldn’t refuse the offer. We look forward to the partnership.

“We’ll work with Yulong as we go along, but our plans are to go to Royal Ascot next year.

Sean Driver, Nathan Doyle and Ash Morgan celebrate their win with Private Harry in the Galaxy.Credit: Getty Images

“So we’ll focus heavily on the Everest, and that’s our grand final target, then we’ll come back for the autumn next year, then we’ll look to go overseas if the horse is happy, healthy and well and everyone agrees that’s where we should go.”

The weight-for-age 1006m King Charles III Stakes, won in 2022 by Nature Strip, is held in June and had prize money of 650,000 pounds ($A1.33 million) last year.

The deal with Yulong is believed to value Private Harry at more than $16 million, although Driver would not comment on the figure.

“It’s a really good result for the owners, $115,000 purchase and he’s five from five,” Driver said. “There was a fair bit of interest, but this is the deal that obviously secured it, so it’s fantastic moving forward.

“We’ll focus on the short-term at the moment, keeping the horse to the highest level as long as we can, and then we’ll discuss with Yulong as a team when the right time is for him to stand at Mr Zhang’s farm. The horse has been life-changing, so it’s fantastic and may it continue.”

Private Harry is the first confirmed starter for The Everest.

MOVING DAY AT ROSEHILL

Tancred Stakes day at Rosehill, featuring two group 1 races, was moved to Tuesday after it was washed out on Saturday morning.

Racing NSW stewards announced just before 8.30am that following overnight rain, and with up to 50mm forecast for the remainder of the day, the meeting had been postponed due to the condition of the track.

Racing has been called off at Rosehill, where Marhoona took out the Golden Slipper last Saturday.Credit: Getty Images

Officials said at 6.55am that the surface was rated a soft 7 and a further inspection would be held at 9am. However, further heavy rain prompted an earlier decision. The Rosehill area had more than 25mm overnight and into the early morning. Racing NSW said the track had received 17mm up to 8am.

Officials announced the meeting, featuring the $1.5 million weight-for-age Tancred Stakes (2400m) and $750,000 Vinery Stud Stakes (2000m) for three-year-old fillies, would be held on Tuesday.

Racing NSW chairman of stewards Steve Railton said the decision to postpone was tough.

“We looked at it at six o’clock this morning and the track, with that rain overnight, was a soft 7,” Railton told Sky Racing.

“We decided to give ourselves a little bit more time just to see how the rainfall was, get the forecast, just so we could make a fully informed decision because we really do want to race if we can, but the track had deteriorated into the heavy range between six and eight o’clock.

“I got some feedback from Tommy Berry, who rode a gallop, and he said the track did feel heavy underfoot. It’s certainly starting to deteriorate.

“We could probably race, race one and maybe two, but unless we can get a level of comfort that we’re going to get through the lion’s share of the meeting, it’s a futile effort.”

Australian Turf Club head of racing and wagering Nevesh Ramdhani said officials spoke to trainers to get their perspective on contingency plans.

Ramdhani said pushing the autumn carnival schedule back a week was one of the options discussed on Saturday after the washout call, but feedback from trainers led officials to the decision to race the Tancred meeting in the coming days and keep the rest of the carnival in place.

Racing NSW said all race fields would be unchanged for Tuesday’s meeting, with scratchings to be reinstated. Race times for the three other NSW race meetings on the day would be revised.

The group 1 Vinery is a crucial lead in to the Australian Derby and Oaks on the following two weeks of The Championships at Randwick, while the Tancred was a key race ahead of the Sydney Cup and $5 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

The program also features the group 2 Tulloch, Emancipation and Neville Sellwood Stakes and the group 3 Baillieu, Star Kingdom and Doncaster Prelude.

Champion trainer Gai Waterhouse was critical of the early decision to abandon the meeting.

“What’s gone wrong?” Waterhouse posted on X. “17mm of rain & racing at Rosehill has been called off. I think anyone from overseas looking in on us would comment on what madness it is. If this was NZ, Europe, UK, Ireland or the US they would all be racing at Rosehill today, yet we’ve abandoned. I dread to think of the costs associated with this!”

The rescheduled meeting will make the task even more difficult for horses trying to qualify, or being set to back-up, into races on day one of the Championships at Randwick next Saturday.

The group 2 Tulloch Stakes (2000m) for three-year-old colts and geldings consists of contenders for the group 1 $2 million Australian Derby (2400m), while the Doncaster Prelude is the last chance for many to secure a start in the $4 million Doncaster Mile, also on April 5.

In 2022, the washed out Tancred meeting was moved to the all-weather track at Newcastle two days later and run successfully. Newcastle, which also has a meeting on Tuesday, was a heavy 8 on Saturday after copping more than 40mm in 24 hours up until 9am, with steady rain continuing.

Trials set down for Rosehill on Tuesday were moved to Friday to accommodate the rescheduled meeting.

WELLINGTON WATCH

A track inspection on Sunday morning will determine if the Wellington Cup meeting goes ahead.

Stewards inspected the track, rated a heavy 8, on Saturday afternoon and identified areas of concern following overnight rain. The $100,000 Cup, part of an eight-race program, is a Big Dance qualifier.

Meanwhile, Saturday’s Wyong meeting, featuring the final qualifier for the Provincial-Midway Championship final, was abandoned, along with a picnic program at Tullibigeal.

The wildcard qualifier at Wyong was added to that club’s program on April 3, nine days before the $1 million Provincial-Midway final at Randwick.

INFANTRY ON THE WAY

Ciaron Maher-trained Light Infantry Man firmed sharply into $15 (TAB) from $51 for the $5 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2400m) at Randwick on April 12 after winning the Australian Cup at Flemington by two lengths on Saturday.

All eyes were on Maher’s defending Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner Pride Of Jenni, which came out of retirement and won the Peter Young Stakes at Caulfield two weeks ago in her first start since a bleeding attack when last in the Champions Mile in November.

The seven-year-old front-running star folded late in the Australian Cup on Saturday to finish second last and drift from $8 to $15 for the Queen Elizabeth.