After Harry’s Hill’s 10th win, I’d love to know how you found him?

It was brilliant. Harry has been an unbelievable horse. Two of us in the syndicate had never been involved with horses before.

We bought him from Eoin McDonagh during Covid. He had horses for the breeze-ups but they had all been cancelled. Eoin contacted David O’Mahoney through his brother and said he had a horse for sale. We went to see his horses breeze at a local gallops with Martin (Hassett, trainer) and we bought him.

He’s been sensational. He’s not just your average handicapper after wining the Rockingham in 2023. He always gives his all. If he runs bad, there’s usually something wrong with him.

Ten wins is unbelievable, most people are lucky to have one. He’s had an awful amount of places as well, he’s always paid his own way. We’ve had some amazing days out with him. When he won at Naas, my brother was home from Australia with his family, so that was brilliant.

How did your partnership get started?

I work for David, and we’ve been working with each other for the last 15 or 16 years as electricians, and we’ve been doing bits and pieces for Liam Hogan for 10 or 15 years. David had been involved in a horse before and we’d talked about getting involved.

It’s nice to be in a syndicate with people we know well, we all trust each other. We were unsure about buying a horse when we first went up to see them breeze. I won’t say that I don’t know a head from an arse, but it’s hard for me to judge a horse going up a gallop. We ended up going up to see him breeze a second time, and then we bit the bullet.

What’s your partnership like with Martin?

Martin is a genius, or I think he is anyway. He’s worked wonders with Harry. We have a Harry Angel filly with him now as well so hopefully he can do the same with her.

David’s brother breeds horses, and Martin would have trained a couple for him, and then we ended up doing some electrical work for him up around the yard and we put floodlights around the gallops. There are plenty of trainers around us here in Tipperary, but we knew Martin and he was always so welcoming. His staff are all so down to earth, and we’re brought in for tea and buns every time we’re down there, they treat everyone like family.

They’re all lovely. My daughter Robyn has been up to see the horses and she loves them, she’s only two and a half. Our filly is called Rocket Robyn, so she calls it her horse now.

Tell us more about Rocket Robyn.

We went into a 50/50 partnership with Conor Hoban, and then we ended up taking a chance and buying his half as well. She’s ran two or three times but she was very green. She finished second to a horse of Joseph O’Brien’s in Dundalk seven or eight weeks ago.

We’re just waiting for a bit of rain for her, or we might go back to Dundalk.

Were you confident going into the run last Sunday?

He won this same race in 2023, and we were confidant-ish.

The last day he ran, he finished second to Mary Shoelaces under Colin Keane. Colin was a little annoyed with himself after, and said he should have went for him sooner.

We put Paddy Harnett back on him with his 5lb claim and thought we could be there or thereabouts to reverse the form with Mary Shoelaces.

Harry always breaks well and likes to sit handy, and everything went to plan! Paddy is great, he’s ridden Harry quite a few times and he’s like Martin, very down to earth.

Could you pick out a highlight from the 10 wins?

It would have to be the Rockingham.

It was a huge privilege just to have a runner on Derby day, we didn’t even expect to get into the races.

There were five horses coming across the line in a photo-finish and he won. It was unbelievable. We were jumping up and down thinking he’d come second or third, but he’d won, we couldn’t believe it.

To be at the races any day and be in with a chance coming up to the line is amazing, and we’ve had plenty of those with Harry. Don’t get me wrong, there are bad days, you could travel two hours for a five-furlong race that’s over in a minute, and be disappointed on the way home. It’s pot luck. We spent under €15,000 on Harry and look at everything he’s done for us! He’s been a dream.

What’s next on the cards for Harry?

We’ll have to go again with him next year. He’ll be a nine-year-old, so it could be his last year, but he was bouncing after his run in the Curragh. He’s still enjoying it.

We’ll possibly go to Bellewstown next week. He likes Bellewstown. I think he likes the stiff uphill finishes at the Curragh and Bellewstown, he doesn’t like a flat track.