Sights set high for Harbour Law
Laura Mongan's three-year-old has been highly progressive this year including when finishing runner-up to Sword Fighter in the Queen's Vase at Royal Ascot
HARBOUR LAW will take his first steps towards a possible tilt at the St Leger with an outing in the Bahrain Trophy at Newmarket.
Having found only subsequent Curragh Cup winner Sword Fighter too strong over two miles in the Queen's Vase at Royal Ascot, the Laura Mongan-trained three-year-old is set for a drop back in trip for a shot at the Group Three prize.
The last horse to successfully claim the one-mile-five-furlong contest before going on to taste Classic glory at Doncaster was the John Gosden-trained Masked Marvel, who won both races in 2011.
Mongan said: "Harbour Law has come out of the race at Ascot absolutely fine and he has taken it all in his stride.
"He is progressing with every run and the plan now is to head for Newmarket a week on Thursday for the Group Three Bahrain Trophy.
"I think we will build him for a Leger campaign, but we will play it by ear and we will know more after Newmarket.
"I see no reason why he shouldn't have a shot at it (Bahrain Trophy) as that was only his fourth start at Ascot and he is improving with every run."
Despite the son of Lawman being sent off a 20-1 chance at Ascot following wins at Salisbury and Sandown, the Epsom handler was not surprised to see him go so close to completing a hat-trick of victories.
Mongan added: "He was a little bit backward last year and the owner did the right thing by giving him time. There was no point rushing him last year and it has shown as things have worked out well this year.
"We were quite hopeful at Ascot. We felt that if he had come from a more fashionable stable, he would have been a much shorter price.
"He won pretty impressively at Sandown the time before over a mile and three-quarters as all he did was stay. His Sandown run was one of the best pieces of form going into the race. He did what he had to do apart from win."