NQ cup king Harrovian set for winning return
AFTER connections purchased The Harrovian in 2018, the horse encountered a serious bout of travel sickness on his way up to Cairns, which almost killed him, before a seven-week convalescence in Brisbane saw him pull through.
“He is a quality horse and he would hold his own down in the metro area, he would get away in the black type races for sure, Listed level,” Holt said.
“He is a lot better than what is going on around up here.”
The seven-year-old gelding is first-up this afternoon following his last race start in late April. He has never been beaten on the Cairns track, winning seven straight races.
The Harrovian is working his way back from a slight eye injury. Connections are likely to consider a tilt at racing in Brisbane following today’s $65,000
Newmarket.
NORTH Queensland winning machine The Harrovian will return to racing for the first time since an eye ulcer came very close to ending his career.
The Harrovian is the pride and joy of Cairns trainer Stephen Massingham, who has prepared him to win nine of 11 starts for the stable, including last year’s Townsville, Cairns and North Queensland Amateurs Cups.
After lumping 67kg to win at Cairns in April, The Harrovian was set to make the trip south and show the cityslickers a thing or two. But as he was being rested up for the trip, a sore eye that developed after that April race turned into something more sinister.
“We treated it the next morning, but on the Wednesday it was clear it wasn’t getting any better,” Massingham said. “It turned out he had developed an ulcer in his eye and he spent the next five weeks at the vets.
“The ulcer was behind the lens of the eye and it was difficult to treat.
“It turned out it was touch and go whether he might lose his eye. I know the vets (Ethan Maloney and Roxanne Harvey) had a couple of sleepless nights worrying about him. “They did an amazing job.” That means The Harrovian can continue his race career, which kickstarts again in
Friday’s Cairns Newmarket, a race that is being run under weight-for-age conditions this year, meaning it is tailor-made for its headline act.
“There’s some nice horses in the race, but if it was a handicap we’d probably have 65kg, so carrying 59kg along with the rest of them is a pretty good weight scale for us,” Massingham said.
If the North Queensland Cowboys had a winning ethic like The Harrovian they would be in the every year.
Owner Tom Hedley, who enjoyed Stradbroke success with Tyzone this year, found a real jewel when he plucked him out of Victoria and sent him to Massingham. He won his first start for Massingham and Hedley and when he ran second next time out, jockey Nathan Day got off and told the trainer he would win every cup in North Queensland.
He proved spot-on. finals race