From a broken neck to biggest payday: Martin Harley delighted with turnaround after remarkable recovery

Martin Harley was thrilled to cap a remarkable recovery with the biggest pot of his career in Queensland last weekend, a year on from suffering multiple fractures to his neck in a horror fall.

The 34-year-old relocated to Australia in October 2022 and steered the Robert Heathcote-trained Abounding to success in the A$3 million (£1.55m/€1.81m) Gold Coast Magic Millions 3YO Guineas at the Gold Coast Turf Club.

The victory in the 7f Listed contest, which was a sales race and worth a massive £916,470 to the winner, remarkably came nearly a year to the day since Harley suffered a horror fall at Doomben which nearly ended his career.

Harley spent nearly six months on the sidelines with multiple fractures to his neck but has made a remarkable recovery and was thankful to enjoy a notable success on Saturday after such a horrendous episode.

He said: “The win on Abounding at the weekend was very good, especially after the year I’ve had. Last year, four days away from the Magic Millions, I broke my neck but thank God there was someone up there looking down on me. It was just nice to get a bit of redemption.”

Goldream: won the King's Stand in 2015

Before this weekend's triumph, Harley's biggest payday was when winning the Group 1 King's Stand Stakes on Goldream at Royal Ascot in 2015, which was worth £212,663 to the winner. 

Harley, who won the Irish 1,000 Guineas on Samitar in 2012, said: "I was always going to stay over here when I left. It's a better way of life with less driving and the prize-money is fantastic."

In the race itself, Harley came from well off the pace on Abounding to claim the lead close home and score by a head from the Peter and Paul Snowden-trained Sovereign Fund at odds of 6-1.

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