Harlow Mist set to strike in open championship qualifier

It’s as open as you would expect the first Provincial-Midway Championship Qualifier to be, but Thursday’s Hawkesbury feature sets up ideally for one well-tuned mare.

Randwick-based Harlow Mist is poised to launch, and take her winning strike rate to an impressive five from 17.

A daughter of Group 1 staying star Contributer in the Randwick stable of ex-Kiwi John Sargent, Harlow Mist shapes as the best-weighted candidate in a competitive and non-claiming 1400m race.

Just 12 days after chasing home high class and heavily backed Oh Diamond Lil in a Saturday Midway BM 72 over a mile, Harlow Mist reloads back a furlong in trip from a low draw.

And expected to settle a few lengths off the pace with plenty of cover, she has senior and more experienced jockey Jason Collett taking over in the saddle.

It’s hard to see any runner being stronger over the final 300m if she gets clear momentum at the top of the straight, but that said, with solid speed on there are several closers who will be finishing hard.

Harlow Mist was around $4.50 in early betting, fractionally ahead of Magnatear ($4.60) who is shooting for a third consecutive win, while Overriding ($6.00) and High Blue Sea ($8.00) were on the next lines.

A full field of 14 is expected to line-up for the CL5 affair at set weights, with the top two progressing to the $1 million Provincial-Midway Championships Final at Randwick on April 12.

Meanwhile, emerging local mare Sunset Park is primed to take the next step when she tackles a BM 64 Hcp over 2000m to close the meeting.