Ashley Morgan’s caution was evident as he nursed Private Harry through the middle stages of Saturday’s BM72 at Rosehill Gardens. In fact, he still hadn’t moved when they got to the 200m. Ashley wasn’t sure if the colt would adapt to the deteriorating conditions and neither was anybody else. Trainer Nathan Doyle had considered scratching the horse earlier in the morning, but made the decision to run when the track was officially rated a Soft 7. Morgan for one wasn’t at all surprised when it was downgraded to a Heavy 8 immediately after Private Harry’s race. Doyle was anxious to start because of the ambitious programme he’s mapped out for the three year old over the next month. To miss Saturday’s race would have seriously impacted that programme.
Morgan was content to race in second spot behind Manuscript to the turn where he allowed his mount to drift out even further on the track. The jockey continued to sit quietly until well in the straight. When he finally asked Private Harry to extend, the response was generous but not as explosive as it had been at Hawkesbury sixteen days earlier. The promising colt did more than enough to beat strong finishing Unleeshing by a length, but clearly didn’t let down the way he can on firm ground. Both Ashley Morgan and Nathan Doyle were firm in their belief that he won again on Saturday despite the conditions.
Three straight for the Inglis Classic purchase! Private Harry is already locked in for the 2025 TAB Magic Millions Sunlight on January 4th - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
In the Hawkesbury BM 64 he shared the lead with Royal Bombadier to the turn before roaring away to a seven length win over Dark Glitter who arguably should have finished a little closer on the day. It’s significant that Dark Glitter started favourite in a BM 64 at Newcastle on Saturday and came from last of eight to win by almost three lengths. Newcastle had been the venue for Private Harry’s debut in a 900m Super Maiden on November 2nd. A Soft 7 track didn’t impair his acceleration to any degree on that occasion as he followed three leaders into the straight before blasting away to win by close to four lengths. His starting quote of $1.55 confirmed a burgeoning reputation.
See what he can do on a firm track. Hawkesbury 21/11/2024 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Old race callers like me can be excused for getting a little sentimental when a set of colours comes along that take us back to a good horse from yesteryear. Private Harry’s white, pale blue star, pale blue striped sleeves and dark blue cap rekindle memories of the grand old warrior Carael Boy who raced 86 times between 2000 and 2008 under the tutelage of the late Bob Milligan. The genuine gelding won 20 races with 11 placings for just shy of a million dollars in prize money. His wins included a listed Winter Stakes, listed Civic Quality, Gr 3 Hawkesbury Cup, Gr 3 BTC Sprint, Gr 3 Liverpool Cup, a listed Wyong Cup and a dead heat with High Cee in a listed Newcastle Cup.
Thanks for the memories! Carael Boy with Sean Driver at Kurrinda 2020.
Carael Boy who spent his retirement at Sean Driver’s “Kurrinda” Bloodstock property at Fordwich near Broke, passed away only a few weeks ago at the advanced age of 27. The family colours were first registered by Sean’s maternal grandfather Ken Silverside who established the original “Kurrinda” Stud on 670 acres in the 1990’s and went on to breed and race several very handy horses. When Ken passed away in 2015 Sean decided to sell the original “Kurrinda” and keep his grandfather’s dream alive by establishing a much smaller version on forty acres not far away. Nowadays he concentrates on buying suitable yearlings at sensible prices for syndication among clients and friends. He provides all breaking-in, pre-training and spelling services and plays a major hand in placing the horses with appropriate trainers.
One of Brad Pengelly's nine wins on Carael Boy. Here he holds off Patezza (Glen Boss) in the 2004 Liverpool Cup at Warwick Farm - courtesy Steve Hart Photographics.
Sean went to $115,000 to purchase the Harry Angel/ Happy Pilgrim colt at the 2023 Inglis Classic Sale and set about formulating the large group of owners who are currently enjoying an exciting ride. Most of them will congregate on the Gold Coast on January 4th when their promising colt will compete in the inaugural TAB Magic Millions Sunlight of 1100m, a $3 million dollar slot race for three year olds. Private Harry has already been selected by slot holder B2B Thoroughbreds. Nathan Doyle has the exacting task of keeping the talented colt happy and healthy for the next four weeks with a possible barrier trial on the cards to help keep him ticking over.
Private Harry’s win was one of three on the day for the highly regarded Newcastle trainer. Doyle made it a double at Rosehill when Midnight Opal handled the going much better than his stablemate had done earlier in the day. The four year old led comfortably to the turn before careering away in the straight to win the 1300m BM 78 by a widening three lengths for Tim Clark. “It was Midnight Opal’s first win as a gelding,” Doyle explained. “He won his first two races as a colt this time last year, but it was pretty obvious a visit to the surgeon was urgently required. He’s always shown plenty of talent but is now the complete racehorse. He should go right on from here for his Australian Bloodstock syndicate. It’s good to know he can handle heavy ground so effectively. They say we’ve got a wet summer ahead.”
Nathan Doyle records Ash Morgan's post race comments for Private Harry's many owners - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
In between his two Rosehill wins, Nathan stationed himself in front of a television monitor to watch three year old filly Churchill’s Choice contest a 1400m Class 1 with Brazilian visitor Jose Severo in the saddle. After a tough three wide run Churchill’s Choice kept getting to the line to win narrowly more on raw talent than racecraft. Having only her second run Churchill’s Choice “lost her rudder” a couple of times in the straight before reaching the lead right on the line. She proved a tough ride for the 24 year old Brazilian jockey who arrived in Australia in July with the backing of his champion countryman Joao Moreira. Severo has ridden 239 winners in South America including four at Gr 1 level complimented by a couple of Sao Paulo jockey’s premierships.
The young jockey wasn’t permitted to ride in races for the first few months of his stay until he attained a satisfactory grasp of the English language. He continued to ride trackwork and in barrier trials for several Newcastle stables while gaining valuable lingual instruction. Significant improvement in his communication skills saw Racing NSW clear him to ride in races as recently as mid October. The young jockey opened his Aussie account with a win on Like Lukey at Scone for Kris Lees on November 11th and followed up with a Muswellbrook win on the same horse eighteen days later. Saturday’s win on Churchill’s Choice was his first for Nathan Doyle and came as a result of his willingness to ride work for the stable. Nathan’s sure to put further rides his way with other Newcastle trainers likely to follow suit.
Brazilian jockey Jose Severo wins on Churchill's Choice at Newcastle narrowly defeating Rubi's Serve (Lee Maggorian) - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Ashley Morgan’s visits to metropolitan tracks are not frequent but his presence isn’t taken lightly by punters whenever he does appear. The hard working Welsh born jockey nosed out Aaron Bullock in last season’s NSW premiership with 137.5 wins while in 2021/2022 his 136 wins saw him finish 15 wins ahead of James McDonald for the state title. To be champion NSW jockey in just his fourth season in Australia was beyond the young Welshman’s wildest dreams. This is the same jockey who rode a total of just 70 winners in the UK, and at one stage walked away from racing to work in real estate and employment recruitment in London. You can’t help but think Ashley Morgan will be wherever Private Harry goes in the immediate future. He’s been on talented horses like Far Too Easy and Norwegian Bliss in recent times but it’s very likely he’s already thinking Private Harry might be potentially the best he’s ridden in Australia. Together they’ll add some spice to the first edition of the TAB Magic Millions Sunlight early in 2025.
Nathan Doyle was dabbling with a handful of cheap horses at age 21 and actually won some races with Stop the Flow and Chiliad at a time when he had little idea about the training business. At age 24 he landed a foreman’s role with Team Snowden from whom he gained valuable tuition for three years. Next project was a two year stint managing Mark Newnham’s Warwick Farm stables, after which he and partner Melina Gissing decided the time was right to fly solo. They started out from Scone stables with a very small team and saddled up their first two runners on November 20th, 2018. The first starter won, the other ran second beaten a nose. Today you’ll find Nathan at Newcastle with 45 horses in work. He’d like a few more but there’s nowhere to put them. He’s also aware that bigger isn’t always best.
(Banner image - Harry didn't fancy the going but still managed to notch the hat trick - courtesy Bradley Photographers.)