Harbour Lake climaxes a great week for Barbury with a courageous success at Haydock

May 11

May celebrations continue at Barbury, with Harbour Lake reversing last month’s Cheltenham form with Long Draw in winning the Pertemps Long Distance Handicap Hurdle at Haydock yesterday.

Harbour Lake was 11lb higher than when finishing third in this race 12 months ago, but, given a great ride by Tom Cannon, who hugged the inside rail throughout, looked anything but a nine-year-old as he quickened past younger horses from the second last  and doggedly beat off the challengers on the run to the line.

Alan said:”I felt that with 12st Harbour Lake might be a few pounds too high, but that was a good tough performance, and I was very proud of him.”

There was also a lot to like about Helnwein‘s performance at Haydock, with Gavin Sheehan conjuring a great run out of him from the second last to finish his race off in style in the prestigious Swinton Hurdle, only to find Our Champ was not for catching.

This was far and away Helnwein’s best performance in what until now had been a disappointing season, and he looked to have rekindled the flame that enabled him to win so well at Sandown on the final day of the last campaign, which augurs well for his prospects next season, be they over hurdles or fences.

It is interesting that Rossa Ryan has already been booked for Paradias in the Sky Bet-sponsored Ebor trial at York on Wednesday as he was aboard when Paradias defied a big weight to produce a career-best performance at Glorious Goodwood last summer.

Paradias has not managed to finish in the frame in three visits to the Knavesmire, but five runs on the all-weather during the winter, two of which he won, have seemed to help him to settle better.

He will also appreciate stepping back up in distance, having been seen doing his best work at the finish when a close fourth in the Easter Middle Distance Classic over a mile and a quarter at Newcastle last month.