Harnett leaves Pharoah backers feeling Happy The well-bred Happy Pharoah recorded his first career success when staying on strongly under Paddy Harnett to win the Irish Champions Festival Maiden at Leopardstown. Having the benefit of three previous starts, the Donnacha O'Brien trained colt carried vital racing experience into this contest. Tracking the leaders in fourth over three-furlongs out, Harnett got a dream run through on the inside rail to go second entering the straight. At that point, the 9/1 chance looked booked for second place, as Chris Hayes kicked for home on the front-running Red King. Ridden to close the gap over a furlong out, it looked as though Happy Pharoah didn't have enough in reserve to get to the leader. However, once asked for maximum effort, the son of American Pharoah quickened up inside the last 50 yards to win by half-a-length. Having missed the break, the Joseph O'Brien trained newcomer Defiantly flashed home late to take third under Ronan Whelan. Harnett said:- “The race went according to plan. “If the pace was on we wanted to take a lead and that’s what happened. He relaxed very well. “We went steady early on and the pace started to lift from six out. I got a nice tow into the race from Andy Oliver’s horse and he really took off in the last furlong. “When I was in that position (in the inner) I couldn’t really get out and I worried that the pace wouldn’t lift but thankfully it did.” When asked if he was aware of the third horse finishing off he added: “No, I wasn’t. We were in front at the line so that’s all that matters. “He’s a huge horse, he’s by American Pharoah so has an unbelievable pedigree. Frank (Lynch), the owner, is a very nice man so I’m delighted to ride a winner for him. He’s a Louth man. “It’s my first winner on the grass. I’ve got a couple of rides at the weekend so hopefully I can nick another one.” Additional reporting by Gary Carson.
