By Mary-Jo Jackson
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Yulong is set for another significant Saturday of racing, with a pair of high-profile Harry Angel (Dark Angel) colts bidding to further enhance their reputations on what could prove a definitive afternoon for Darley’s rising shuttle sire.
Yuesheng Zhang’s behemoth operation acquired Angel Capital earlier this year in the aftermath of his classy Autumn Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m) win, and then swiftly snapped up a 50 per cent share in Private Harry following his memorable Group 1 breakthrough in The Galaxy (Gr 1, 1100m) back in March.
Angel Capital was quick to further vindicate his purchase by producing a fantastic first-up performance, winning the Chautauqua Stakes (Listed, 1200m) at The Valley by 3.8 lengths – a fourth stakes win for the now Chris Waller-trained four-year-old, whose only blip in his Classic year came when sixth in the Caulfield Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m).
A five-time winner from eight starts, Angel Capital will step up to Group 1 level for the second time in Saturday’s Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) at Caulfield and with an attractive weight of 53.5 kilograms under Damian Lane, Yulong’s chief operating officer Sam Fairgray is quietly confident the colt is well-placed to add a maiden top-flight victory to his CV.
“Angel Capital was dynamic in his first race and we’ll see tomorrow whether he can back that up,” Fairgray told ANZ News. “We don’t wanna jump the gun, but he’s definitely gone to a new level as he’s matured more this preparation.
“We went to Brisbane looking to give him a couple of runs up there [in the winter] but the tracks were against us so we decided not to run, which could have been a good thing because it’s allowed him time to furnish and he’s come back bigger and stronger.”
Saturday’s 1400-metre contest is set to serve as a marker for Angel Capital’s ideal trip this time in. While fancied by former trainer Clinton McDonald as a potential sprinter earlier in the year, he is out of a South Australian Oaks (Gr 1, 2000m) placegetter in Bahamas (Teofilo), making him a half-brother to Senor Toba (Toronado) and Berkeley Square (Territories) – both Group winners over 2400 metres and 2040 metres respectively.
A dirty scope ruled the colt out of a second crack at a mile in the Australian Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) back in March.
“Saturday is going to tell us a bit more about him,” Fairgray said. “There’s plenty of races ahead of us, whether we come back or go up in distance.
“It’d be nice if he won tomorrow and then there’s options like the Golden Eagle [1500m] and that sort of thing. We’ll very much leave it up to Chris, he understands that we’re in the business of trying to produce stallions and he’ll place them to the right effect.
“If we can knock off that Group 1 with him, that’s very important for his future at stud and it allows you to pick and choose a bit more where you go. He gets in nicely at the weights so it’s the right time to take advantage of that.
“Both he and Private Harry are very untapped really so you’d think they’re only going to get better the deeper they go into their preps. It was pure coincidence that they both came together, but it’s very exciting to have them heading into the spring.”
Undefeated in five starts, Private Harry arguably shapes as Australia’s main hope for next month’s $20 million The Everest (Gr 1, 1200m) having been locked in to race in Yulong’s slot since March.
The Nathan Doyle-trained sprinter has not been seen since his Galaxy victory, which was his first foray into stakes company after dominant city wins at Rosehill and in the inaugural $3 million Sunlight Stakes (1100m) at the Sunshine Coast.
Having posted two trial wins last month, Private Harry will attempt to hit the ground running with Yulong as part-owner when he resumes in Saturday’s The Shorts (Gr 2, 1100m) at Randwick – a race which will see him face off against a couple of Everest rivals in Briasa (Smart Missile) and Joliestar (Zoustar).
“It’s not going to be an easy race, there are a couple of very, very good horses in there, but if he’s going to measure up in The Everest he’s got to measure up tomorrow,” Fairgray said.
“We expect him to run well but Nathan has said there’s still improvement to come. Everything has been super, he’s spelled well, Nathan’s given him a really nice slow build-up this preparation. He looks amazing – I saw a photo yesterday of him and he just looks absolutely fantastic and he’s trialled well.”
Fairgray acknowledged the strength in Saturday’s field but believes Private Harry has the capacity to thrive up against stiffer opposition.
“He’s an interesting horse — he’s a real fighter,” he said. “When a horse challenges him, that’s when he’s at his best, he likes a fight.”
On the challenge that Hong Kong superstar Ka Ying Rising (Shamexpress) poses to Yulong’s Everest claims next month, Fairgray added: “Obviously he is very, very good horse who’s going to be hard to beat, but travelling horses can be hard and it’s going to be a different style of race — there will be a lot more pressure in The Everest.
“It will be fantastic, it’s great for racing that Ka Ying Rising is coming to Sydney but we have some very good sprinters so he won’t be given it on a plate.”
Bred by Rheinwood Pastoral out of three-time winner Happy Pilgrim (Congrats), Private Harry was a $115,000 purchase for Nathan Doyle and part-owners Kurrinda Bloodstock at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale in 2023, while Angel Capital was originally a $400,000 purchase for Upper Bloodstock and G Ho from Mill Park Stud at the 2023 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale.
Both four-year-olds, the pair were conceived from a relatively modest $16,500 (inc GST) fee, which Harry Angel stood for at Darley’s Kelvinside base between 2020 and 2022, covering a total of 385 mares in that period.
From three crops and 138 runners in Australia, the son of Dark Angel (Acclamation) has produced 92 winners. Of his 20 stakes winners worldwide, he boasts three Group 1 winners – Tom Kitten, Private Harry and War Machine – all bred and raced in Australia.
Having raced away with the the nation’s third-season sires’ title this year, he duly stands this season at an increased fee of $66,000 (inc GST), up from $38,500 last year.
Saturday showcases the strength in depth of the stallion’s runners, with Group 2 winners Arkansaw Kid and Stretan Angel also representing. The former joins Angel Capital in the Sir Rupert Clarke off the back of his Bobbie Lewis Handicap (Gr 2, 1200m) triumph last Saturday, while the latter lines up for The Taggart (1200m) on the same card.
“It’s a big day for Harry Angel and it’s obviously a very good indication of how well the stallion is going that he can have such a number of significant runners on one day on a key spring day, so we’re delighted,” Darley Australia’s head of stallions Alastair Pulford told ANZ News.
“He really is firing down here, he’s building on a really impressive start and these horses are clearly not one-dimensional and one-hit wonders because they’ve all been in multiple campaigns now and are all stepping up levels every time they reach a new campaign.
“Angel Capital was amazing first-up the other day, he was super impressive and we know how good Private Harry is already from his almost meteoric rise to fame really. He’s been a fantastic horse. You’ve got to be winning these big spring races obviously, that’s what owners and breeders are looking for, these key events that highlight the best horses.”
Pulford said that the 11-year-old Harry Angel, who also finished inside the top ten on the general sires’ table for the 2024-25 season despite a comparatively small number of Australian runners, has already cemented himself as a cornerstone stallion at Kelvinside and is receiving plenty of support this season.
“His place is set in stone here now, he’s becoming a very, very important stallion for us,” Pulford said.
“He is fully booked this year and his popularity is increasing all the time – every day we have people ringing on the off-chance there is an opportunity to get another mare in. He’s absolutely flying.
“I can only see, off the back of better and better books coming through, his fortunes rising. It’s exciting when you get a horse like this, he’s a high-class stallion and suits the Australian mares.
“We’re all looking for that beautiful outcross and he’s a complete outcross, not only in terms of Danehill blood – he was the first commercial son of Dark Angel to stand in Australia, so he’s a very exciting animal.”