Legion to help Harrison’s strike rate

Sydney trainer Peter Robl believes he can help spark jockey Tegan Harrison’s metropolitan season with Ninth Legion at Doomben.

Harrison has been in the top bracket of Brisbane jockeys for the past four seasons but this season is sitting in 11th place with eight winners.

Her season has been stop-start because of several suspensions but she has a handy book on Saturday headed by Ninth Legion in the $150,000 Listed Lough Neagh Stakes (1350m).

Robl said Ninth Legion had been solid at his most recent Sydney starts but there wasn’t a suitable race for him in the south.

“The races in Sydney are either at 1200 metres or getting out to 1600. He doesn’t run a strong 1600 and he is really in the middle distance-wise,” Robl said..

“I could have tried him in the Villiers (1600m) at Randwick but in reality the Brisbane race is his ideal distance.

“The Lough Neagh has fallen away numbers-wise but there should still be plenty of pace.

“He will be able to get up outside the leader and I don’t think he races as well when cluttered away inside horses.”

Robl said he had no hesitation booking Harrison for Ninth Legion.

“I have had a bit of success with Tegan and she rode my first black-type winner for me on Eloping in the Silk Stocking at the Gold Coast earlier this year,” he said.

“She is the ideal type of jockey for Ninth Legion because she can get him out and go.”

Ninth Legion won the Listed Eye Liner stakes at Ipswich during the winter and then returned to Sydney to win the Civic Stakes.

“He does seem to race well in Queensland and I think the standard of races for him are the right ones,” Robl said.

Ninth Legion is raced by Robl’s main clients, Segenhoe Stud, and has won more than $1 million prize money.

“He has been around in plenty of stakes races in his career and has won four of them so he has earned his top weight in the Lough Neagh,” Robl said.