Andy Robertson Celebrates First Winner as Sole Owner
Andy Robertson has won plenty on the pitch. On Friday evening at Cork, he finally had one all to himself on the racecourse.
The Tottenham and Scotland defender, long immersed in ownership syndicates, celebrated his first winner as sole owner when Walk On Harry struck in the 5f maiden, triggering a lucrative €50,000 Goffs bonus in the process.
From syndicate man to sole success
Robertson is no casual newcomer to the sport. He was part of the Mr McCann ownership group alongside former Liverpool teammates Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Adam Lallana, a high-profile football-racing crossover that turned a few heads in recent seasons.
He also features among the owners of Wait Geordie, trained by Hugo Palmer. That runner looked promising when scoring by one and a half lengths under David Probert on debut at Bath, but has since drawn a blank in five subsequent starts.
Walk On Harry is different. This was the first horse to run solely in Robertson’s name and he delivered, building on a previous course-and-distance third to get off the mark at the third attempt for Henry de Bromhead and jockey Ronan Whelan.
The pressure told inside the final furlong. Ridden prominently on the far side, Walk On Harry tracked favourite Southern Boulevard before Whelan angled him out and asked for a finishing effort. The response was sharp and decisive, the son of Earthlight pulling clear to score by a length and a quarter.
‘He could have a bright future’
Whelan, speaking to Racing TV, outlined how connections had sharpened their approach.
"We learned a lot about him the last day and we thought dropping back to five furlongs we could be good and positive on him, but he's actually a horse that wants to travel," he said.
"He's got a lovely pedigree and he's a lovely physical horse to go with it, so hopefully he's only going to keep on progressing. He's got a beautiful mind to go with it, so he could have a bright future."
Walk On Harry cost €32,000 at last year’s Goffs Orby Book 2 sale, a price that made him eligible for the sales company’s €50,000 bonus scheme. His victory means only one such bonus remains to be claimed in Ireland this year, underlining the value of this particular strike for Robertson and the team behind the colt.
There was another winner in the stands too. Tipster Graeme Rodway had flagged Walk On Harry at 11-2, his selection landing in style on the Cork card. For Robertson, though, the significance ran deeper than a well-backed winner. This was his colours, his name, his horse — and a first taste of outright success that will only fuel the defender’s growing appetite for the racing game.
