Colm O’Donoghue to ride for Jessica Harrington this season

Classic-winning rider Colm O’Donoghue has confirmed he will ride Jessica Harrington’s powerful team of flat horses this year when available.

O'Donoghue has been a vital cog in Aidan O'Brien's Ballydoyle operation for almost two decades but Harrington has moved to snap up his services after Fran Berry's move to England to ride for Ralph Beckett.

“I met Jessie after coming back from my winter stint in India and she asked me to ride her horses this season when I’m not wanted by Aidan. I rode for her a few times when I was an apprentice but this came out of the blue and I’m delighted,” he said.

Harrington’s flat string for 2016 include last year’s leading two-year-old Final Frontier who won two of his three juvenile starts including the Group Three Anglesey Stakes.

She is also planning a four-year-old campaign for the highly-rated filly Bocca Baciata.

The new arrangement begins at the Curragh on Sunday when O’Donoghue rides the Harrington trained pair, Princess Aloof and St Brelades Bay.