Racing
League
Rugby
Cricket
Golf
Motorsport
Combat Sports
Football
Netball
Basketball
Other Sports
Sport Nation
đ» How to tune into Sport Nation
âDisasterâ: Ash Morgan booted from Private Harry
Connor Scanlon ⹠ September 22nd, 2025 3:51 pm
Prior to Saturdayâs race meet at Randwick Private Harry was an undefeated four-year-old with five consecutive wins.
The Group 1 winner was the favourite coming into the Group 2 Shorts (1100m), however the Kurrinda Bloodstock and Yulong Investments owned sprinter lost for the first time, finishing outside the placings in fifth.
Kurrinda Bloodstockâs Director and Bloodstock Manager Sean Driver revealed that the son of Harry Angel had plenty of excuses in the run though.
In fact, the four-year-old who was ridden by Ash Morgan knuckled and nearly fell over at the start of the race.
âIt was just a disaster as the gates opened, he nearly came down out of the gates,â Driver told SENTrack and RSN's Giddy Up.
âIf you watched the stewardâs vision, he knuckled that bad, we donât even know how he stayed on his feet.
âThen we copped a little bump from Briasa, post him knuckling.
âA lot of people watching will think we copped a bump from Briasa, but that was after the worst happened.
âHe was laying on the gates quite badly in there and just wasnât corrected well enough â heâs come out sideways, heâs knuckled down and his nose hit the turf.
âThatâs pretty much game over from there.
âYou just canât do that at this level! Heâs never missed a kick before, he always pings out of the lids.
âHeâs come down on his knees and his nose has touched the grass.â
On top of the nightmare barrier jump, Private Harry was also ridden at an extremely fast pace in the first 600m which astounded Driver.
âHe was driven forward, and we ran 32 seconds in the first 600m,â revealed Driver.
âYou canât finish races off when youâre running 32 seconds in your first 600m!
âYou canât expect a horse to finish off, itâs just not gonna happen.â
Despite the disappointing run, the Kurrinda Bloodstock Director reaffirmed that the four-year-old is still an elite Group 1 level horse.
âIâve got no doubt the horse is in terrific order, weâve still got full confidence in the horse,â Driver said.
âWe just got to put a pen through the run as nothing worked out. I donât care about that race, Iâm just happy that the horse is safe.
âIâm not making excuses here, but things do go wrong. People forget, heâs still a Group 1 winner and he won his first five starts straight.
âHe has come back better, I can assure you. We just need to regroup and act as if Saturday didnât happen.â
Regular jockey Morgan had ridden Private Harry to each of his five victories, impressing for the owners each ride.
However, Driver revealed that Yulong Investments has made the decision to part ways with Morgan, following his out-of-character ride.
âHe wonât (be riding Private Harry),â Driver revealed.
âYulong will let us know today (who will ride Private Harry next).
âAt the end of the day weâre on a big stage and itâs a business. We need the job to get done and the job wasnât done.
âThat might seem ruthless, but theyâve paid a lot of money for this horse.
âI havenât spoken to Ash yet. He is a really good mate of mine and I will continue to support Ash with our other horses.
âItâs unfortunate, but youâve just got to push your emotions aside.â
Private Harry's next race will be the Group 2 Premiere Stakes (1200m) on October 4 at Randwick.
