Harchibald is retired Harchibald, one of the most talented and controversial hurdlers of the past decade, has been retired following his recent outing on the all-weather at Dundalk. The ten-year-old gelding won 10 races from 37 starts, a record that included twice winning both the Fighting Fifth at Newcastle and the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton. However his most memorable performance probably came in defeat when he cruised into contention in the 2005 Champion Hurdle on the bridle, only to lose out to Hardy Eustace. "He's been retired," trainer Noel Meade told sportinglife.com. "He's just getting on a bit and when he came back from Dundalk the other day he was feeling a bit sore behind and this is a problem we've been having with him all along." "After that we thought it was best to retire him. We don't want to be knocking him about anymore so it's for the best. He was one of my favourites." "He was always controversial but he was just a very good horse who won a lot of great races and he gave us a lot of great times. It's just a pity he didn't win that Champion Hurdle."
