During this period of Harry’s career attempts by a certain veterinarian to persuade his lessees to perform a new type of throat surgery on him had been met only with grunts and comments the likes of..... “ but he doesn’t roar. In fact I’d call him clean winded. He’s been scoped several times and we’ve been told that there’s nothing wrong with him. He only pulled up distressed after two of his races. He’s just one of those horses that doesn’t give his all ! He’s not genuine! He’s bred to get a mile but hasn’t won past six furlongs. In fact most of his wins are at five. He’s been a bit of a disappointment ! ”.
Now at rising six Harry’s lease was up and his owner decided to put him on the market. Six months elapsed and due to his illustrious reputation nobody put in an offer for poor old Harry. Eventually a trainer (friend of the said vet) rang him and asked if he had heard of any horses for sale as he was looking for one for some new clients. So the opportunity was seized and ‘Harry’ was mentioned. “Oh! I was told about him so I filed his form sheet in the bin under the kitchen table,” replied the trainer. “Well take it out and listen ! ” came the vet’s retort. The conversation continued for an hour with the trainer finally agreeing to discuss the option of purchasing this horse with the intention of performing this ‘new’ procedure on, with his clients. The trainer had already seen a ‘change of mind’ and ‘race form’ in some of his own horses that had had this new throat surgery and was thus keen to try the approach on a ? good horse! The new clients were ‘adventurous types’ and eventually agreed. The horse was purchased and underwent surgery the following day.
Now during the ensuing rest period, although some changes were apparent , (Harry was seen to gain weight and seemed better in himself) nobody bothered to explain the purpose of the hospital visit ...etc to Harry! Therefore despite having 10 weeks off the track Harry was still very reluctant to walk onto a van or truck. At his first ridden exercise whilst being urged forward he suddenly reared and spun violently eventually stumbling into a ditch and falling. The rider scrambled to his feet and stared at what he later described as a pathetic sight. A fully grown horse lying prostrate trembling and sweating like the worst coward. In disgust he growled at the animal to “get up!”. Harry’s response.......he wet himself! Yes, he lay there and urinated all over his own legs. What horrific expectation did this poor animal have? What did he think was going to happen next?...... Nothing of course did. He was allowed to get up in his own time and returned to the stable for the rest of the day. As time went on Harry’s behaviour improved and he appeared to be beginning to ‘enjoy’ his work There were still good days and bad but in ‘time’ the good out numbered bad!. He was certainly doing plenty of work , and was beginning to eat like a horse! Now with further ‘Time and Care’ in the hands of an experienced horseman (his trainer) and with ‘renewed breadth’ Harry went on to win numerous races ,including those at Group 1 level (1 mile), Group II (7 and a half furlongs) and Group III (7 furlongs) and remained undefeated at five furlongs. He received the award of ‘Racehorse of the Year’ at 6 yrs of age. He raced for another 5 years winning at his last outing at 11yrs of age (on the flat). The jockey on dismounting couldn’t help but comment “ There was no way he was going to let those youngsters beat him to the post!..... I just sat there and enjoyed the ride” (this was Harry the non-tryer.) His owners had been richly rewarded.
And what about Harry. In the years following surgery Harry developed into the most ‘relaxed’, ‘well conditioned’ racehorse a trainer could have in his stable. The trainers children were often seen to load old Harry onto the van. “Come on Harry “ and up he went. At the races prior to his race he would ‘go to sleep’ in the stall. If you had your money on him, at seeing him ambling , head 6 inches off the ground in the parade enclosure you would be concerned at a possible lack of enthusiasm. However once the jockey was legged up Harry’s ears went up and it became obvious that he was out to enjoy a damn good gallop; and he would!
And whats Harry up to now? Last I heard Harry was leading out the runners in the major Group I event of the carnival......, and loving every minute of it. “you’d think he’d been born for the job” came a comment from amongst the large crowd.”He’s the most relaxed horse on the track” remarked a trainer!
If only Harry could tell them his story. “I wish someone made them go back to the track after they had nearly suffocated half way down the running in their previous race........... Non trier !! ....Ha! ........I’d call it self preservation!............and I wish they would stop saying that I didn’t race well early because I was one of those ‘nervous types’! ...................Get it round the right way.......Please !!!”
