Top Prospect lives up to his name
GERRY Harvey was on a roll at Ellerslie yesterday. The Australian principal of Westbury Stud won a race as owner of Rising Shot and bred the brilliant winner of the Trevor Eagle Memorial.
Top Prospect is a galloper on the rise and was bred and sold by Harvey under the Westbury banner as a yearling to Auckland bloodstock consultant Robert Dawe.
Dawe paid $65,000 for the colt by Swiss Ace out of Princess Carolina on behalf of clients of Richard Collett’s Pukekohe stable.
Now a gelding, the 3-year-old is proving a wise investment.
The speed was on in the 1500m contest and that played right into the winner’s hands.
Ridden by the trainer’s daughter, Alysha, he settled back off a solid pace set by McKee and Chippendale stablemates O’Guy and Showpin, he was revved up early to ensure the pacemakers didn’t steal a break.
Racing a little ungenerously when hanging out slightly, he still made good ground and once balanced gobbled the opposition up for an easy win.
Held in high regard by his trainer, he has confirmed the opinion and will get better with more experience.
‘‘He does all the talking this horse he’s a good horse,’’ Collett said. ‘‘What he did against the older horses here on Melbourne Cup day suggested he was getting better.’’
Collett may look at a return to Ellerslie in a couple of week’s for another Listed race and a suitable step up to 2100m.
‘‘Every start he’s improving,’’ Alysha Collett said.
‘‘The more ground he gets over the better he’ll be.’’
Rising Shot has got the right name for the Rising Stars Championship Final at Ellerslie on Boxing Day.
The Harvey-owned Red Giant mare impressively accounted for a Rating 75 qualifier at the course on Saturday to set her on her way to the final.
If the mare’s Te Rapa trainer David Greene has his way she will have a run beforehand.
‘‘If I get a couple of drinks down Russell Warwick [Harvey’s racing manager] tonight, he might let me run in the CAL Isuzu Stakes in the meantime,’’ he said.