Harrison to help Ecuador create record

Tegan Harrison will ride Ecuador as he tries to create a weight-carrying record in the Ipswich Cup.

Tegan Harrison will have to help rewrite the record books if she is to record her 12th career stakes win on Ecuador in the Ipswich Cup.

Ecuador has 60kg in the Cup (2150m) which means he will create a weight carrying record if he can win on Saturday.

The Ipswich Cup is notorious for favouring lightly weighted horses with Sharply (58.5 kg in 1961) and Maurus (58kg in 2016) the two top-weighted winners in the 80 years of the modern day version of the race.

While it is a daunting statistic the weight scale has changed and topweights in the past few years have raced well with New Zealand stayer Benzini finishing second last year with 60kg.

Ecuador is a multiple stakes winner and placegetter and as the winner of more than $1 million has earned his weight.

He is trained by Sydney partnership of Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott who have used Harrison on a regular basis in the past four years.

Harrison has ridden in Group One races for Waterhouse and won on Aurora Rose at the Gold Coast for the stable last year.

The winner of 534 races Harrison won the Ipswich Cup on Brave Ali in 2014.

She missed four months of this season with a broken collarbone but has been in good form since returning.

Harrison has won the Listed Gold Coast Cup and the Group Three Scone Dark Jewel Stakes in recent weeks.

“It is always an honour to ride for the Waterhouse-Bott stable and Ecuador looks a good ride,” she said.

At the other end of the weight scale, Mark Du Plessis will ride Emphasis on the minimum 54kg/

Trainer Richie Stephenson has kept his word to the jockey after he replaced the injured Sean Cormack on Emphasis in his last start in the Group Three Lord Mayor’s Cup (1630m) on May 26.

Emphasis ran seventh but Du Plessis told Stephenson the run was better than it looked.

“Mark was happy with the run. The track was terrible and Emphasis just didn’t handle it,” Stephenson said.

“Emphasis wasn’t suited at weight-for-age and he is much better off at handicap conditions at Ipswich.”

Stephenson said Du Plessis was keen to ride Emphasis in the Cup.

“A few other top jockeys must have seen the run because they rang for the ride. But I couldn’t go back on my word,” he said.

Emphasis, who cost $10,000 from a Darley dispersal sale, has won $312,000 from his seven wins.

“He has been great for us and to win a Cup with him would be a bonus,” Stephenson said.