Foxhunter Chase-winning rider Harriet Tucker is looking forward to teaming up with Cheshire trainer Joe O’Shea again this weekend.
Making her first appearance at Sheriff Hutton, Tucker (pictured above) rides Irish Anthem for O'Shea in the ladies' open race. The duo finished second to Buck Dancing at Alnwick last month, and Tucker has since won on O'Shea's Ravished at Cottenham.
Asked about the association with the stable, Tucker, who works in Somerset for Paul Nicholls, said: "I noticed Joe had entered Ravished for a race but had not booked a jockey, so I messaged him and he came back saying, 'You've just missed the ride, I've booked someone'.
"Then I got another message from him, saying 'How far are you from Alnwick?' I didn't know, so I looked it up and thought 'My God, that's miles away,' but it didn't take long for me to think, 'Why not? I'll go up'. That was to ride Irish Anthem.
"I drove up there the day before with a friend, we checked into a hotel and it all worked out when Irish Anthem finished second. Then Joe said he was running Ravished at Cottenham, and after I won on him Joe said, 'Brilliant ride' and it went from there. Now I'm really looking forward to going up to Sheriff Hutton."
O'Shea (pictured below) is no stranger to a good horse, and he is convinced Irish Anthem heads to Sheriff Hutton with a winning chance despite the quality of the opposition. It includes last year's winner Haymount, recent Barbury Racecourse winner The Dellercheckout, hunter chase winner Diamond King and the smart Cherry Coward-trained pair of One Conemara and Path To Freedom.
Reflecting on Irish Anthem's Alnwick run, O'Shea said: "He had been off for 14 months, but was only overtaken on the run-in – you'll see the proper Irish Anthem on Sunday. He's the best I've ever had him and my girl who rides him is nearly in tears each day trying to hold him.
"Harriet has been magic on the two rides she's had for me. She texted me asking if I needed a rider, and when she said she was prepared to drive seven hours to get to Alnwick I thought that says something about her. She deserved her chance and did really well on Ravished at Cottenham – she came in saying she had never jumped a fence so fast.
"She'll ride Ravished for me at Bangor [on Sunday week]. His rating is high enough to get in at Cheltenham, and I'm hoping to run Irish Anthem at the Festival, too. If he runs well on Sunday I'm thinking of taking him to Leicester for the Dick Saunders Hunters' Chase in a bid to get his handicap mark up a bit."
Tucker won the 2018 St James's Place Foxhunter Chase on Pacha Du Polder, who was trained by Nicholls.
Joe O'Shea