The daughter of the leading dual-purpose trainer Jessica Harrington, Kate Harrington has been an ever-present face alongside her mother on Irish racecourses for many years and in recent seasons has shown herself to be a very capable amateur rider.
Age: 21
Principal Trainer: Jessica Harrington
Notable Win: Goffs Land Rover Bumper (Imperial Cascade 2009)
Starting With A Bang
Kate Harrington had something of a baptism of fire in terms of her public riding career. While the charity race at the Punchestown Festival is considered a wonderful event for charity and a bit of fun for the participants, Kate’s very first ride in public in the 2007 renewal of that race was an altogether more serious affair. The reason that there was so much pressure on her was that she was riding no less than Moscow Flyer, the 13-year-old Irish racing legend that her mother had trained to win 13 Grade 1 races and had taken out of retirement to contest the race. While many would insist that it was all in good fun for charity, the racing public longed for Moscow Flyer to make a winning return to the racecourse and Kate would unquestionably have been feeling the weight of expectation on her. However, she more than rose to the occasion, guiding her ever-enthusiastic partner to a cosy win, much to the delight of the crowd. It was an excellent start to her riding career and set her up for her imminent transition to bumpers.
It didn’t take long for Kate to get off the mark in a “real race”, with her riding the Jessica Harrington-trained Helvic Head to success in a bumper at Ballinrobe on just her second ride in such contests the following July. Five weeks later, she doubled her tally by riding the Harrington-trained Go Dana Le Pras to success in a bumper at Bellewstown.
Another Big Success At Punchestown
Given she was busy with her college career, Kate only took a very modest number of rides until the backend of the 2008/9 season, but once she got back in the groove, success soon followed. She returned to the winner’s enclosure on the Harrington-trained Fionn Tra in a bumper at the Fairyhouse Easter Festival and better still would be forthcoming a fortnight later. Riding her mother’s Imperial Cascade, she gained a very valuable success in the Goffs Land Rover Bumper at the Punchestown Festival.
Once the college year began again, Kate’s activity on the racecourse was again reduced, but the summer of 2010 saw her become a more and more regular participant in bumpers all around the country. She got back in the winner’s enclosure on her mother’s True Character in a bumper at Navan in December and gained another win courtesy of the win of her mother’s Espresso Lady at Navan in March.
With the Fairyhouse and Punchestown Festivals just around the corner, it wouldn’t be a big surprise to see Kate Harrington add another big race win to her tally.
