7:00am Saturday 28th June 2008
By Phil Chard
PIRATES fan Phil Fry will probably have a hard time deciding which rider to support in the British Grand Prix tonight after naming three of his horses after top speedway stars.
Wimborne-based Fry, whose company Fry's Electrical, back the Dorset club and sponsor Adam Skornicki, has two big sporting passions.
One is speedway. The other horse racing.
Fry, 58, bought his first horse about 20 years ago, a mare called Wingreen Hill, whose second foal was Earth Summit, who went on to win the Scottish, Welsh and English Nationals - the only horse to have done so.
Now he's named one of his latest purchases Our Bomber Harris after the Cornish rider who defends his British GP title in the Millennium Stadium tonight (7pm).
Our Bomber Harris finished second first time out at Newton Abbot in a National Hunt flat race in April behind highly fancied Fistral Beach, and looks to have a bright future.
Sadly, the same can't be said about two of Fry's other horses called Bjarne Pedersen (after Poole Castle Cover's current captain) and Loramski (after former Pirates rider Mark Loram who lifted the 2000 world title).
Neither hit the headlines and Fry's daughter Lorraine said: "Unfortunately, they didn't have the guts of their namesakes and both are in non-racing homes now!"
Rather un-speedway-like, Loramski only ran twice, unshipping his jockey first, then bailing out before the end of his second race.
Bjarne Pedersen "looked stunning" in the parade ring at Newbury in November, but "pulled up out of breath on the finishing straight" in his only outing.
"I'm not sure who was whiter at the finish, the jockey or my dad," said Lorraine.
So it's Our Bomber Harris, purchased at Doncaster Sales in May last year, which currently holds the key to the success of the Fry family's unique horse racing-speedway connection.
And the horse, given his name after receiving shale star Chris's blessing, could hit the jackpot, just like Harris when he won with a thrilling last to first burst in the final at Cardiff last year.
Our Bomber Harris and Fistral Beach are both trained by Paul Nicholls, and Lorraine said: "Paul rates both horses very highly.
"So Our Bomber Harris is an exciting prospect for next year and is out at grass enjoying the summer holiday at present.
"Luckily, he has shown the ability of his namesake, so we're hoping he can make a name for himself, just like the speedway rider we've named him after!"
The original Bjarne Pedersen and the original Chris Harris both line up in the Millennium Stadium tonight seeking a victory that would help them secure automatic re-qualification for next year's GP series.
A 40,000-plus crowd, including the Fry family and hundreds more other Pirates fans, is expected at the indoor arena in the Principality.
Phil has a share of 2.5 horses with Richard Barber-Paul Nicholls in Beaminster.
They are Our Bomber Harris, a new purchase from Doncaster this year due to be named Fredwold, after Phil's first grandchild, and a half share in a grey mare called Dream Leader.
He also has 2.5 shares with George Ward, the owner of Bonusprint.
They include Bob Run and King Ar Agdaigh, who are trained by David Arbuthnot near Newbury.
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