Henry Dwyer’s progressive four-year-old Harbourmaster overcame early difficulties to record a strong victory at Sandown last Wednesday. The gelded son of Cable Bay began awkwardly for jockey Mitch Aitken and was shuffled back to last in an eight-horse field at the mile trip. Aitken remained patient throughout the run, sitting rearward before hooking wide at the top of the straight and allowing his runner to build momentum. Harbourmaster balanced up and had a full head of steam approaching the furlong marker before whistling past his rivals, winning eased down by almost two lengths in an dominant display. The young hoop was buoyed by his mount’s run. “He just half missed it (the start)”, Aitken said post race. “I peeled him out at the top of the straight and he showed a tremendous turn of foot”.
Trainer Dwyer was full of praise for his galloper. “He was absolutely terrific today.
“I thought he would really struggle to win from where he was. It’s not a track where you can generally make a lot of ground”.
The win was impressive on the clock too, breaking the class record by half-a-second in a performance that Dwyer described as “a pretty good effort”.
“He’s a nice horse and he keeps on improving”.
Dwyer indicated that Harbourmaster will return to the races at either Sandown or Warrnambool on the second weekend in January, where he will again be asked to step up in grade.