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Champion trainer Murray Baker will stake his claim for a third Derby win this season and seventh of his career.
This was when Harry has his final lead-up to the Gr.1 Queensland Derby in Saturday's Gr.3 Grand Prix Stakes (2020m) at Doomben.
Sir Percy gelding Harry will be the least experienced runner, having just the fourth start of his career, but that's not to say he's not the most promising.
He followed wins at his first two starts, at New Plymouth and Ellerslie, with a terrific run for third against the race pattern at Te Rapa last start to seal his trip to Brisbane.He flew to Brisbane on Sunday and has settled into his stabling on the Gold Coast much to the satisfaction of Baker, who flew to Brisbane on Thursday.
"We're very pleased with him," Baker said."He looks like a horse that needs more ground. He lacks a bit of ring craft but he's only three once and he deserves his shot."
Baker has yet to win a Queensland Derby, but he has won three Australian Derbies, the Victorian Derby, the New Zealand Derby and the now defunct Wellington Derby, most recently claiming the New Zealand-Australian Derby double with Mongolian Khan earlier this year.In Harry, he has seen enough to think he could add to his tally in the Queensland Derby at Doomben on June 6.
"I think he'll stay on all right. He's by Sir Percy, who won an Epsom Derby, and he's out of a stakes-placed Almutawakel mare and the Almutawakels stayed well. He was the sire of Red Sharrock's horse Wahid, who won the Derby."We like him a lot. It was a big run at Te Rapa last time. He came from well back to get third and I'd like to think he'd run well enough on Saturday to warrant a run in the Derby."
Baker has booked Zac Purton to ride Harry from barrier 12, managing to secure the leading Hong Kong jockey after the Mark Kavanagh-trained Magicool was withdrawn prior to acceptances.Closer to home, Baker and training partner Andrew Forsman will continue their march toward 100 wins for the season with eight runners engaged at Ellerslie on Saturday and six at Hawera on Sunday.
The stable, which has 94 wins already this term, will be two-handed in the Listed Graeme Thomson Jewellers Great Northern Foal Stakes (1400m) at Ellerslie, with Massa Lu and Get The Jive engaged.Matthew Cameron won aboard both two-year-olds at their last starts and has plumped for Te Awamutu debut winner Get The Jive, leaving Opie Bosson to ride Avondale winner Massa Lu, who holds an entry for the Gr.1 JJ Atkins (1600m) at Doomben on June 6.
"He's got the nomination and if he did win we'd be thinking about it seriously because it's a $600,000 race," Baker said."Get The Jive won well at Waipa and he's a big, strong gelding and he won well in the wet."