On route to the 2019 Ballarat Cup, the Matthew Williams-trained Harbour Views suffered his first defeat at his sixth start when a luckless runner-up of the $500,000 Melbourne Cup Carnival Country Final (1600m) at Flemington.
The Northern Hemisphere four-year-old gelding by Le Havre was held up badly from barrier one and anchored under 61.5kg once clear when beaten 1.25 lengths by Star Missile.
“He only got out over the final 150 metres so he didn’t have a taxing run,” Williams said.
“He has eaten up great and he’s sound so at this stage we’ll push on to the Ballarat Cup.”
However, connections of Harbour Views now face an anxious wait whether their 86-handicap rater will make the Listed Sportsbet Ballarat Cup (2000m) field.
The Ballarat Cup is the richest country cup in Australia after receiving a prizemoney injection from $350,000 to $500,000. The distance of the race has also been changed from last year, reduced to 2000 metres.
The lowest-rated horse to secure a spot in last year’s Ballarat Cup field before emergencies was Smart As You Think, who had an 84-rating in the 18-horse capacity field.
However given the reduction in distance and increase in prizemoney, an uplift in the quality of entries for the Ballarat Cup can be reasonably anticipated.
Below: Harbour Views Race Record
