KINGSTON, Jamaica - Harry’s Train went from gate to wire with a scorching run to win a Restrictive Overnight Allowance (three-year-olds and upwards) call going five furlongs (1000 metres) round on the Sunday racing programme of February 16.
Sent off at attractive odds of 10/1 in the 11-horse field and ridden by Omar Walker, the five-year-old USA-bred chestnut mare went on to devastate her 10 rivals to set the stage for triple success by her trainer Ian Parsard. Harry’s Train won by three lengths in a time of 59.1 seconds.
Eye Candy, a 7/1 chance ride for leading rider Anthony Allen, was second with Wartime under Raddesh Roman, third.
Following the upset victory posted by Harry’s Train, assistant trainer Peter John Parsard spoke with this website.
“We are very impressed by her performance, but a lot of times, as part of the training team, you have to do justice to your charges by figuring out what it is they want, what they like, how they want to be ridden…things like that.
“Harry’s Train is a challenging horse to train. I think that we figured out what she wants to be done, and it is only when they mature and get a bit older than you find out different things and different preferences, and in the process, new approaches are introduced.
“We tried Harry’s Train with everything, and she acted as though she was never interested, and now, we tried once again; she peaked and at the right time at that, and showed that she is just ready to run.
“Looking at some of the problems that we faced in motivating her to continue racing, in January, we had a revealing owner/trainer discussion, after which we chose to let her race out the rest of this year as long as she remains sound and healthy.
“We still have a long way to go, but this performance is an encouraging first step,” said the hopeful Peter John.
