Cup win the icing on the cake of busy week for Sydney breeder

“It’s so satisfying to win such a prestigious Group 1 race.”

The speaker is successful Sydney businessman with interests across logistics, infrastructure and investment Mick Harvey, after watching his homebred four-year-old Kingman (Always B Miki) outgun a top class harness racing field in the $250,000 Victoria Cup (2240 metres) at Melton last Saturday night.

Despite an early miscue, the Always B Miki entire reeled off a final 800 metres in a sizzling 53.8 seconds to relegate Hi Manameisjeff and the champion Leap To Fame into the minor placings in the signature event of the spring racing in Victoria.

Kingman has now won 13 of his 33 starts and $340,469 in stakes. Besides his Victoria Cup triumph, his major successes include the 2024 Tasmanian Derby and several Free-for-alls at Menangle.

“We are entertaining the idea of running him in the New Zealand Cup. I have never had a runner in the NZ Cup. It’s one of the races I’d love to have a runner in,” Mick said. 

“I have been pretty lucky. I’ve won most of the features including the Hunter Cup, Miracle Mile, Blacks A Fake and Breeders Crown.”

Earlier in the day Vivy Air, a galloping mare part-owned by Harvey, scored its most significant win to date in the $160,000 The Big Dance Wildcard at The Everest meeting at Randwick.

“She’s going to run in The Big Dance at Randwick on Melbourne Cup Day. It’s a three million dollar race,” Harvey said.

“I used to have mainly thoroughbreds but I’ve fallen in love with the standardbreds and I’ve had a lot of great fun with them.”

Kingman is the first pacer ever bred by Harvey.

“I really liked the great Kiwi mare Elect To Live. I raced Kingman’s dam Gotta Go Dali Queen, who is a granddaughter of Elect To Live,” he said.

Gotta Go Dali Queen won eight races including five at Alexandra Park and one at Melton and almost $90,000.

“I also bought her half-sister My Harmony Blue. Their mum was Gotta Go Harmony which was a good horse as well.”

The winner of $106,000, My Harmony Blue left the Menangle winner Harmony as her first foal.

Harvey also purchased two unraced siblings of Gotta Go Harmony in Glenferrie Elect (by Christian Cullen) and Gotta Go Electowatch (by He’s Watching).

“Glenferrie Elect produced a Group 1 winner for me in Captn Me, while Gotta Go Electowatch threw a nice two-year-old this year in Rewatch, who went 1:53 winning first up, ran second in the Bathurst Gold Crown and then galloped in The Protostar. 

“Just to see everything come to fruition is so rewarding and satisfying. I put significant time in identifying and selecting horses,” Mick stated.

 “Speed is very important in breeding. I look for certain nicks and percentages. I put a lot of emphasis on the female side that’s for sure.

“I invested in a few families that didn’t have massive pedigree pages at the time of their purchase, but now they’re going gangbusters. It vindicates everything that I’ve done. 

“Take King Of Swing for example. He was out of a good mare, but Bettor Twist and Mach Dan, who belong to this family, hadn’t raced at the time. Bettor Twist has got the most ever Group 1 wins for a female pacer in NZ and Mach Dan has won over a million dollars.”

Harvey is currently breeding from two close relatives to Bettor Twist in Bettor Give It and Spandau Ballet. The latter figures as the dam of this year’s Maryborough Pacing Cup and Menangle winner Le Twist.

Naiya Franco, a half-sister by Mach Three to the great racemare Nike Franco, is another member of Harvey’s broodmare herd. She has left the Group 1 Bathurst Gold Crown winner Ripples and the dual Melton victor Samkerr from only three foals of racing age.

All told, Harvey owns around 20 broodmares who reside at the family’s property at Berrima in the NSW Southern Highlands and Woodlands Stud near Auckland.

While King Of Swing is undoubtedly the best horse that Harvey has raced, the first ‘big headline’ horse that he was associated with was the Dream Away gelding Hectorjayjay.

“He was unbelievable. Such an exciting horse to race and watch. He was freakish but unfortunately was plagued with injuries,” Mick said.

The ill-fated Major Trojan, the winner of the 2019 Western Australian Derby and The Chandon, the Victorian country cups winner and NSW Derby runner-up Can’t Refuse and the smart racemare Ripples have been other good performers raced by Harvey.

And, while the Sydney businessman’s sights are firmly set on the racetrack at present, he is keeping a close eye on a matter on the other side of the fence.

“Last week I was approached about taking over the Harnesslink website,” Harvey stated. 

“I’d love to put back into the industry. It’s been very good to me. 

“Harnesslink has a strong and respected foundation, thanks to the dedicated work of John Curtin. My goal is to build on that legacy and introduce a few enhancements to keep the platform evolving.”

“While the site has served the industry well, there’s a great opportunity to refresh certain elements and bring new energy to how users interact with the content.

“With social media playing such a big role today, it’s essential that Harnesslink strengthens its presence across platforms like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to reach and engage with a wider audience,” Mick said.

“Harnesslink already delivers a truly global perspective with strong coverage in North America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. I’d love to see that extended further into Europe, and we’ve already begun conversations around making that happen.

“Our aim is to ensure that anyone who wants to follow a horse or stay connected to the sport has easy access to the information they need.

“There’s always room for improvement, and with some thoughtful updates, I believe we can make Harnesslink even better for fans and participants alike,” he said.

by Peter Wharton, for Harnesslink