Mike Moroney's Glass Harmonium eyes the Melbourne Cup after a win in the Eagle Farm Cup
Glass Harmonium has threatened in both starts since arriving in Australia and today at Eagle Farm he broke through for his first victory in the Eagle Farm Cup.
In a tiny field of just six horses Glass Harmonium went to the front from the outset and dictated the tempo of the race.
The question was always going to be could he settle and in a fantastic ride by Lisa Cropp she controlled the horse nicely and he didn’t over race in the slightest.
Michael Moroney says it was an important win for the horse after he fell just short in his last two runs and the fact he could settle throughout the early stages gives him confidence he compete in the longer Group 1 tests later in the year.
“Both his two runs here have been a little bit unlucky, but he looks as if he’s Group 1 class,” Moroney said.
From here they will consider backing him up for the Brisbane Cup but that will depend on how the horse looks in the paddock over the next day or two.
“We’re still tossing up running him in the Brisbane Cup,” Moroney said.
“We’ll discuss it but we’re not opposed to it, it’s a good sort of test for the Melbourne Cup.”
It’s a tantalising prospect for the rest of the year given there’s every chance Glass Harmonium could improve after a spell as he becomes more at home in Australia.
Moroney has confirmed he’ll be used as a genuine stayer throughout the foreseeable future and that he may have found a permanent home here in Australia.
“He’s more of a Caulfield Cup horse than a Cox Plate horse,” he said.
“He’s probably travelled around the world twice already.”
It was a tremendous ride by Lisa Cropp with a few people questioning her strength to keep the horse in check.
It was no issue though and she took the easiest of wins to get on the board at Eagle Farm.
“He came back to me beautiful around the track, he appreciated a bit of give in the track,” she said.
She also agrees he’ll run a 3200m trip so Brisbane may have discovered a real Melbourne Cup hope for later in the year.
“The way he got to the line I reckon there’s more left,” she said.
Shoot Out put in a better performance to run second with Scenic Shot tiring to only run home for third.
