Harchibald

Harchibald (foaled in 1999 in France) is a retired French-bred, Irish-trained thoroughbred racehorse.

Background

Harchibald was sired by the stallion Perugino out of the mare Dame D’Harvard. He was owned by DP Sharkey, trained by Noel Meade and predominately ridden by Paul Carberry.

Racing career

Harchibald started racing as a three-year-old in February 2002 in which he participated in the Prix Sengali-Carnaval. Despite this being his first race, he took home first place. Harchibald’s first notable win came in November 2004 at Punchestown Racecourse near Naas, County Kildare, in Ireland where he won the Mongey Communications Morgiana Hurdle, a Grade 2 National Hunt race. Following his first Grade 2 win, Harchibald and jockey Paul Carberry went on to win the 2004 Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle Racecourse in Newcastle, England where he beat out Inglis Drever by 2 lengths. Following his win in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle, Harchibald went on to beat Rooster Booster in the 2004 Christmas Hurdle. Had he gone on to win the Champion Hurdle, Harchibald would have become just the second horse since Kribensis in 1989/90 to win the Fighting Fifth Hurdle, Christmas Hurdle, and Champion Hurdle in the same racing season. However, Harchibald did not win the race, instead losing to Hardy Eustace by just a fraction of a length.