Brisbane jockey booked to ride champ

TOP Brisbane jockey Brad Stewart has been booked to ride the champion of the north, The Harrovian, next month.

Premier Cairns trainer Stephen Massingham will start the long trip to Brisbane this week with the horse that has taken all before him over the last 18 months in north Queensland.

With The Harrovian’s well documented road trip issues when he made his way to FNQ (he suffered from travel sickness on the journey to Cairns), Massingham will take his stable star down himself instead of chucking him on a transport truck.

The plan is for Massingham to stay with the seven-year-old gelding for his first one or two starts, before he transfers to Toby and Trent Edmonds on the Gold Coast, like several of Tom Hedley’s gun horses have done over the last few years.

At Cannon Park on Friday, Massingham was happy to book the 41year-old Stewart (right) for his first southeast assignment, a rider who has been among Brisbane’s leading jockeys for over a decade.

“I just got in contact with Brad’s manager to see if he was interested in the ride,” Massingham said. “He got back to me within half an hour saying he was keen so we will go ahead with that now.”

Aidan Holt, Robert Thompson and Chris Whiteley have been The Harrovian’s riders across his NQ career.

Unusually for the leading NQ stable, Massingham will have no starters at Townsville this Thursday as he prepares for the Brisbane journey with his star.

The tentative plan is for The Harrovian to have his first start in Brisbane on October 3, potentially in the $125,000 Open Quality Handicap (1400m).