FIrst trebles for Thorne and Kearney as Harry set to finish on a win

Harry’s Bar completed a memorable night for Stephen Thorne at Dundalk when notching a treble for the trainer, and jockey Jack Kearney, with a narrow success in the concluding six furlong handicap.

The ten-year-old looks set to head into retirement now after tonight’s win with 16 victories on his CV, including nine at this venue.

It was his first success for Thorne since he took over his training last year.

Stablemate Never Shout Never set a strong pace in the race but was grabbed in the dying strides by Harry’s Bar. Collective Power also came to join the party late and Harry’s Bar just had his head down at the right time to secure a nose victory in a very tight finish.

It was a first career treble for both trainer and jockey and Kearney commented: "Great! A good night's work."

It also gave Thorne the leading trainer title in the Winter Series at Dundalk by one, with 15 winners.

He said: "This is my first couple of months as a trainer in a nutshell, one bit of luck after the next.

"It has been a huge team effort to get an achievement like this.

"I think we have run 12 individuals for the winter. We said from day one that we would stick with quality over quantity.

"We got inside the minds of these horses and tweaked and twisted a few little things to try and rejig them to find them a new lease of life. The biggest asset I had was bringing Stephen Mooney back from the UK with his partner Lisa. Stephen has been my assistant from day one.

"We homed in very early on on Jack Kearney and he has probably been a revelation for us with the 5lb off them. Everywhere we have raced, he has been in the right place at the right time on all of them. Jamie Powell, who represented me in the last race, has done me no harm at all this winter as well. We will be supporting them plenty as soon as the turf kicks off.

"It is unbelievable to achieve this in a short space of time. Shamrock Thoroughbreds has been my base and my brainchild, and it is a syndicate that has served me well over the last number of years.

"Hopefully, this will help us attract some new owners which we are keen to source. We are always open to doing partnerships and hoping to attract some fresh sole owners.

"Unfortunately, there is not much left on the all-weather for him (Harry's Bar) unless we toy with the idea of going to Newcastle. I'm going to have to speak with the main owner in the morning. More than likely we are going to retire this horse now. He will go out on a high.

"He will bow out at a racecourse where he has served us very well. He has been a dream horse to have and won a Listed race six days after we bought him.

"Stephen's partner Lisa is gladly going to take him as a nice riding horse, so he has got a beautiful home ready made for him and that is what I want more than anything for this particular type of horse. I want to do the right thing by him."

(Quotes by Michael Graham)