Sir Harry Lewis

Sir Harry Lewis (24 January 1984 – 14 April 2009) was an American-bred

Background

Sir Harry Lewis was an "angular, quite good-looking" bay colt with a small white

Sir Harry Lewis was acquired by the American businessman Howard Kaskel and sent to Europe where he was trained by Barry Hills at Lambourn in Berkshire.

Racing career

1986: two-year-old season

Sir Harry Lewis began his racing career in a minor race over seven

The Irish Derby, run at the Curragh on 27 June, was the second most valuable race run in Europe in 1987, behind the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, and ahead of the Epsom Derby. The prize money was boosted by sponsorship from Budweiser, an increase in initial entry fees and a new supplementary entry stage in December 1986. Despite the prize on offer the race attracted only eight runners and the field was not considered a strong one. Sir Harry Lewis started 6/1 fourth favourite behind the French colt Sadjiyd who had won the Prix Noailles and the Prix Hocquart before running poorly at Epsom. Most Welcome was second choice in the betting ahead of Entitled who had finished second in the Irish 2,000 Guineas and fifth in the Derby, whilst Naheez (runner up in the Prix du Jockey Club) started at 10/1. The start of the race was delayed by fifty minutes after a hoax bomb warning led to the partial evacuation of the grandstand. Partnered again by Reid, Sir Harry Lewis took the lead a quarter of a mile from the finish and held off a persistent challenge from Naheez to win by three quarters of a length, with a gap of four lengths back to Entitled in third place.^[2] Commenting on the pre-race drama, Reid said "He relaxed just fine. He was not worried by the long wait".^[6]

The colt raced four times in 1987 after his Irish win, but did not win again. In July he was matched against older horses for the first time and finished seventh of the nine runners behind Reference Point in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot Racecourse. In the following month he was brought back in distance for the Matchmaker International over 10+1⁄2 furlongs at York and finished third behind Triptych and Ascot Knight. In his last two appearances of the year, Sir Harry Lewis was sent to North America to compete for major international prizes. In the Rothman' International at Woodbine Racetrack on 18 October he started 5.4/1 second favourite and finished third behind the French challengers River Memories and Sadjiyd. On 21 November at Hollywood Park Racetrack the colt contested the fourth running of the Breeders' Cup Turf. Starting at odds of 20/1 he finished eleventh of the fourteen runners behind Theatrical.^[2]

1988: four-year-old season

On his debut as a four-year-old, Sir Harry Lewis was made the 7/4 favourite for the John Porter Stakes at Newbury Racecourse on 16 April. He finished second of the eight runners behind Alwasmi, to whom he was conceding six pounds.^[7] Three weeks later he started 4/7 favourite for the Ormonde Stakes on heavy ground at Chester but failed to reproduce his best form. He was beaten more than twenty lengths behind the outsider Mr Pintips, and finished the race lame.^[8]

Sir Harry Lewis was then transferred permanently to the United States where he raced in the ownership of Kaskel's Sugar Maple Stable and was trained by

In 1986 the independent Timeform organisation gave Sir Harry Lewis a rating of 81 p (the p indicating that he was expected to make more than normal improvement). In their annual Racehorses of 1986 Timeform described him as "sure to improve and win a race".[5] In the International Classification for 1987, Sir Harry Lewis was given a rating of 122, thirteen pounds behind the top-rated Reference Point. Timeform rated him on 127, twelve pounds behind Reference Point, their Horse of the Year. In Racehorses of 1987 Timeform described him as being a "far from fluent mover" but "game and genuine".^[2]

Stud record

Sir Harry Lewis started his stallion career at