BE it a punter assessing potential winners or bookmakers pricing up the races, the rule of thumb in an Irish bumper is to see what Patrick Mullins is riding for his father Willie. After that, what Noel Meade and Gordon Elliott are running are always worthy of consideration, particularly if Nina Carberry is on board.

Katie Walsh’s engagement merits respect too and if the point-to-point warriors, Derek O’Connor and Jamie Codd are involved, you would be foolish not to take note.

Jessica Harrington and her daughter Kate have formed a good alliance in recent years and when the latter drove Modem to success in Galway’s prestigious amateur rider handicap, it was a highlight not just for rider, but for a trainer who has known success on the grandest stage.

For consistency though, the Harrington partnership have never gone as well as they are presently. Sunni May’s victory at Leopardstown last Saturday made it a sixth of the season for the combination. In all, they have linked up 26 times this term, finishing in the first four on a further eight occasions. That’s a pretty stunning rate of dependability, in an era of unprecedented competitiveness, but it hasn’t come by accident.

“I never thought it could go as well,” agrees 26-year-old Kate on Wednesday afternoon, after a morning riding work and a quick trip to Goffs. “Mum’s got a lovely team of bumper horses. I remember last spring, when they were all having their first run, that they really were an exciting bunch to look forward to next winter. A few of them ran in schooling races in Punchestown last February and they just gave you that feel where you were thinking ‘Give them a bit of time and they’ll be nice.’

“Around three years ago, we bought Don’t Touch It and Walk To Freedom at the Derby Sale. We went that year with a good few orders for the first time in a few years. We had been very lucky with a smaller type horse. Moscow (Flyer) was a smaller type horse even though he was a chaser. Mac’s Joy was a smaller type horse.

“I remember saying to Mum ‘I think we should try get a bigger type of horse because I’m sick of being down at the start at bumpers and Nina and Patrick are on Noel’s and Willie’s and are towering above me!’

“So if you look at the type of horse we got those years, they are all short-coupled but are a lot scopier. We had the orders there so we could go get them.”

The irony is that while the results have arrived on bumpers, it is over fences that most of this crop, including Our Duke, Sunni May and New To This Town should be seen to best effect. Already, current achievements and anything that happens over hurdles are considered bonus territory.

This explains why Our Duke was allowed go hurdling just four weeks ago. He will be sent chasing next season and to that end, will bypass Cheltenham, heading directly to Fairyhouse for his second run over the smaller obstacles.

New To This Town won’t be fast-tracked in that manner though, and instead, is being targeted at a trip to Gloucestershire for the Champion Bumper. The five-year-old’s two wins have come on extremely testing going but Harrington believes the likely improved ground will suit.

“He’s so laidback. He doesn’t even realise he’s a racehorse yet. Looking at his action at home and everything, I think he’ll be 10 times a better horse once he gets better ground. He was as fit as we could get him for Gowran but he still had a blow with me when we turned in and I asked him to quicken, he filled his lungs up. He’s going to improve again I hope.”

FESTIVAL DREAMS

She isn’t sure if she will be in the plate and is pragmatic about the decision to be made. That’s not to say she doesn’t yearn for a first ride at the festival.

“I still claim five. It’s gonna be up to the owners and I’ll fully understand if they decide that it won’t happen because it’s gonna be against the professionals over there. But I would do anything to get the opportunity.”

Rock The World is another that is Cheltenham-bound, although connections are keeping their options open regards to what engagement he might take up. There is very little doubt about Ttebbob though, providing all goes well in the Flyingbolt Chase tomorrow.

“I think he’s gonna be better on better ground. He was fifth behind Jezki in the World Hurdle last year at Punchestown on good ground and he pulled the whole way for that. He runs in Navan and the decision will be made after that but I think he will go for the Arkle. We just ran him back too quickly at Christmas.

“Last week he did a bit of work and he was back to himself. He schooled at home this morning (Wednesday) and it was just breathtaking. Blink and you’d miss him jumping a fence.”

She was 13 by the time she was allowed go to Cheltenham. That was 2003. Moscow Flyer backed up his Arkle success of 12 months previously in the Champion Chase and the following day, Spirit Leader added the County Hurdle. “Easiest game in the world” she must have thought.

“I was so young when we had Moscow Flyer. I didn’t appreciate how amazing he was. God, if we ever get one like him again or half as good, it would be amazing. Only last week I watched his first Queen Mother and the hairs would stand up on the back of your neck.”

Jezki added to the championship roster by winning the Champion Hurdle in 2014 but is unfortunately sidelined this season. As important as that was though, Moscow Flyer will always have a little more of a place in Harrington’s heart because he looked after her on her first racecourse appearance – cantering to victory in the Punchestown Charity Race in 2007.

Just two years later, she returned to the scene to win the Goff’s Land Rover Bumper on Imperial Cascade. There have been some other wonderful memories amongst her 31 winners, including success in a lady amateur rider’s race in Ascot in 2014 – Ian Williams providing the conveyance (See The Storm) on that occasion.

SUPPORT SYSTEM

The family got a real thrill out of the amateur handicap success at Galway with Modem last August, but the resultant 10-day suspension made an impact on the pilot. So after Christmas, she approached jockey coach, Warren O’Connor to work with her.

“I’ve been going once a week and I definitely think in the last three weeks… well I feel that I’ve been getting stronger. I’ve been working on the simulator, getting more with my whip. I did get a whip ban when I won the GPT in Galway, and I was always a bit conscious of that and wanted to tidy myself up a bit more. So I just said, ‘He’s there to use so I might as well see if I can improve myself.’

“He’s brilliant. He’d ring me up before a race. I would already have talked to Mum about what I’m gonna do and he’d talk through it as well and talk about the other horses in the race. He’d also call afterwards.

“He’s definitely a big help. I evented from when I was a kid and the amount of training people get for eventing… in racing people have the trainers but don’t necessarily have (enough of a support system). It’s good to have an outside view, away from everything, away from home and work, without any bias.”

She finally called time on eventing two years ago. Her horse, Jantar suffered an injury and with the growing demands on her time from the racing side eating into what she needed to do to compete at three-star level, it was the natural choice. Jantar has been leased out to junior riders Lucy Latta and Adam Haugh in recent years, competing in European Championships in Poland with Haugh last year, to Harrington’s obvious delight.

She was always good in the saddle, and was part of the Ireland team that won bronze at the European Pony Championships 11 years ago. Now 26, she giggles as she recounts the memory of it being the first time she saw her mother seriously stricken by nerves.

Given that Jessica had competed at all the major championships and been selected for two Olympics, you’d have thought she would have been the ideal tutor. But teenage daughters don’t think much of a mother’s advice, so instead, “I was packed off up to Con Power’s and Mags. Mags and Con and Esib and Robert taught me.”

In more recent years, she has become much more receptive to her mother’s advice. “Now what she says is Gospel, so it’s fine,” laughs Harrington. They work closely together now. “I love it. I was working in Ballydoyle for two years and I learned so much there. Aidan (O’Brien) is an amazing man to work for. To be down there was like Disneyland or Dreamland. After Dad passed away, I thought it was time to come home. We’re so busy, between the jumpers and the flat. It’s crossover time now, there’s not enough stables but it’s a great complaint.

“My sister, Emma, plays a huge role in the whole thing. She’s the person who really keeps Commonstown up and running. She does an amazing job in the office and the place would fall apart without her.”

EQUAL TREATMENT

It is a remarkable situation to be so busy, given that Commonstown isn’t kept going by one major backer. There are numerous owners and the Harrington operation is established as the leading dual-purpose one in Ireland, right up to the highest level in both codes. The secret, it seems, is to treat all the horses the same, an approach that benefits veteran jumpers and giddy flat youngsters alike.

“Mum throws the two-year-olds in lots with the jumpers. The two-year-old colts mess around for a few days and the jumpers are looking at them as if to say ‘Why are you messing?’ and then they just stop. They just chill out a lot more. Mum just throws them all in amongst each other and away they go. The jumper could be going upsides a flat horse. It works!

“We have a lot of owners that have been with us a long time and a lot of owners that have just come back to us in the last couple of years. A lot of people tend to buy the older flat horses because they see with her that they can move onto jumping as well as run on the flat.

“Unyielding had his first run over hurdles last week at Naas and finished third. I think he’s going to be a very, very exciting horse come the spring. Barnacle Bill is also another exciting one coming off the flat going over hurdles.

“We’re a very open door. Owners don’t really need to ring us to say they’re coming to see the horses. They arrive on our doorstep. It’s never a problem. The horse is there, come see it. Anytime we work on The Curragh, we contact them to see if they’re available to come and see them. It’s lovely for the owners to come and see how the horses are in their everyday life and what we do with them.”

That is so important in terms of giving owners the full experience. Horse Racing Ireland have made improving the lot of owners a priority but there is a growing sense within the racing community that the promoters have taken their eye off the ball in terms of what actually is going on out on the track. A letter from Patrick Roche in these pages generated plenty of debate in this regard, with Harrington drawing attention to it on her Twitter feed.

She has done plenty to promote the ancillary events surrounding racing and maintains that highlighting the social side is important. But, she argues, the action needs to be emphasised to a far greater degree than is the case at present.

“Patrick Roche’s letter had really, really good points. I think they got bogged down promoting student racing, the bands… everything that’s at the races. But we weren’t promoting what everyone’s there for, to watch the racing and how amazing it is.

“The finish to the Irish Gold Cup at the weekend was breathtaking. Coming down to the last, who would have said Carlingford Lough was going to win? That sums up National Hunt racing.

“We as a country, going to Cheltenham, we should be getting behind Faugheen. Faugheen the powerhouse, going to Cheltenham, representing us and taking on all challengers. He should be a household name.

“Maybe it’s because I was younger, but I feel that people got behind Moscow hugely because it was him against the English and we were gonna come out on top. And even the Istabraq days.

“Look at American Pharoah this year, how nearly the whole nation knew about him. Even my friends that were living in Australia and wouldn’t have a clue about a horse, they were going to get up early to watch American Pharoah. It’s mad.

“The social side is great and it’s a great day out but there is also this atmosphere, this amazing camaraderie, there is amazing action. Especially with the build-up to Cheltenham at the moment.”

And maybe she can write some of the story herself, at the Mecca, next month. Now that would be something.