Diligent Harry confirmed himself a leading contender for the £150,000 All-Weather Sprint Championships as he defied a rating of 106 in the Huge Daily Boosts Only At BetUK Handicap at Newcastle this evening.
The five-year-old was all the rage for the six-furlong feature after going down by a neck to Annaf in the Listed BetUK Kachy Stakes at Lingfield Park 10 days ago, his first appearance since being gelded.
Sent off the 7/4 favourite in a field of eight, Clive Cox’s charge travelled powerfully in fourth under Kieran Shoemark as Fine Wine made the running on the stands’ rail.
Diligent Harry made his move passing the two-furlong pole and seized the advantage approaching the final furlong before comfortably keeping King Of Bavaria at bay to score by three-parts of a length.
The winner is now four from seven on the all-weather and could become the first horse to win two different races on Finals Day, having landed the All-Weather Three-Year-Old Championships at Lingfield Park in 2021.
Shoemark said: “That was very straightforward. Diligent Harry travelled like a dream and when I pulled him out, I actually thought he would win more decisively, but he does not strike me as a horse who would go and win by five lengths. He almost makes it look a bit more workmanlike, but he is very talented.
“He travels for fun but when you let him down, it is not instant. I thought I was going to hit the front too soon but I had to really ask him to get to the line. He is not blowing at all and there is plenty left in the tank.
“Speaking to Clive, I think the gelding operation has been the making of him. It was a good run last time and, now he has got his head in front again, hopefully he can continue to climb up that ladder.”
Part-owner Allan Brown said: “Diligent Harry has come on from the gelding operation. He has been a good horse all the time. We have been expecting him to improve and he is starting to do it now with a second last week and a first this week. He can be a tough character but you saw what he did today – he just did what he needed to do and made us all very pleased.
“The all-weather final would be fine for him. He ran in the three-year-old race the other year and won it, but he has to run once more to qualify and it can sometimes be difficult to find races. There is a big race [Prix Anabaa] in Chantilly, which would be a direct qualifier, but that is a bit further afield than Newcastle.
“The horse has come on leaps and bounds and Clive has always done a good job with our horses in all the years we have been with him. This is what we know and expect the horse to do, it was just about getting him back to what he was 18 months ago. The gelding has helped tremendously and you could see today that he did what he did quite easily.”