“He'll Never Die” – Memory Of Fleming Lives On Through Royal Ascot-Bound The Harv

Trainer Michael O'Callaghan has opened up about the emotion surrounding the Goodwood success of The Harv (Ten Sovereigns), named in honour of his late friend and business partner John Fleming, who helped source the Royal Ascot-bound juvenile merely hours before his untimely death back in April. 

The Harv was heavily-punted into 5-6 favouritism before making a winning debut in a six-furlong novice on Sunday. That performance convinced his trainer that the colt was up to running in the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot, for which he is a general 33-1 chance. 

Bought on behalf of his owner Eleanora Kennedy at the Goffs Breeze-Up Sale at Doncaster for £260,000, The Harv carries huge sentiment given he was selected by Fleming, affectionately known as Harvey by his friends, just hours before he was knocked down and killed by a bus at Dublin Airport when making his way home from that sale. 

Speaking about The Harv's hugely emotional debut success, O'Callaghan, one of the closest friends to Fleming, said, “It was a very special moment. The word that is coming to mind the most over the past few days is surreal. Harvey was such a unique man and had an impact on so many lives. Trying to digest what happened to him, then finding my own feet, putting one foot in front of the other and all the while keeping the show on the road and making him proud, it's been a strange time.”

Michael O'Callaghan: “We loved each other like brothers but at times like father and son.” | Tattersalls

He added, “The Ten Sovereigns was the last horse that he had a hand in buying. We picked him out at Goffs on behalf of Eleanora Kennedy. We were both on loudspeaker to her as we were bidding and I think it was something that Harvey said that convinced her to bid again and to get the horse over the line for us. It was only when we were walking out of the sales complex that evening when he said, 'Feck it, we didn't get anything for ourselves,' before backing it up with, 'sure maybe it's all for luck.' We'd usually buy one or two at a lower level to try and trade on but, typical Harvey, he always tried to flip a negative into a positive when we didn't get one. Obviously, between six or eight hours of us walking out of Goffs together, unfortunately he was gone. Since then, everything has been a whirlwind. We've tried to keep busy and the horses will help you to do that.”

The fact that The Harv cemented his participation at Royal Ascot by landing the odds when making that winning debut at Goodwood doesn't exactly tell the full story. He overcame a nightmare final furlong before having his nose plonked on the wire just in the nick of time by a gifted Oisin Murphy. After all of that, he then had to overcome a stewards' enquiry. O'Callaghan, who describes himself as “incredibly deep” and “not one who believes in coincidences,” was left in no doubt that his late friend was up to his old tricks on the day.

He said, “We have a secret weapon now – there's no doubt he's looking over us and helping us to come out on the right side of these results. Sunday was incredible with the horse being who he was, Harvey's connection and even how the race panned out. The horse showed a great attitude on a tricky track and on ground that would have been far slower than ideal. He actually got struck by a whip across the nose about 125 yards before the line but he still stuck his head down and battled. Then there was a photo finish and we only ended up winning a nose before a stewards' enquiry was called. That was just Harvey playing his tricks. He loved a bit of mischief. It was just surreal. It meant a lot to us and it meant a lot to his close friends and family. He'll never die.”

O'Callaghan added, “We loved each other like brothers but at times like father and son. I know for a fact that I wouldn't be training if he wasn't in my corner as a mentor and a supporter. It's something I have thought quite a lot about since his passing. I'm 37 now and I didn't come from a horseracing background so I didn't work as an assistant to anyone and had to make my own mistakes through a lot of pig-headedness, a lot of arrogance and a lot of everything else. I had to knock those edges off myself and get to a stage where I am just about ready to really kick on. Between setting up our new yard to attracting the right owners, I very much feel that what happened with the Harv is a turning point in my life and career. It's very much about doing the absolute best that I can as a trainer but also as a man and as a person. It would be a good way to honour him, but not just to honour him because I don't want the pressure of that. But it has certainly put things into perspective. This is not a dress rehearsal. We only get one go at life.

“It's very difficult to put into words what sort of impact he had on me and it's probably not until the dust settles on the thing that you realise how truly special of a man he was. He was very unassuming and really only wanted to help everyone else. He just lived every day with no other intention other than to make it a better day than the day before. If I am in a tricky spot now, I find myself thinking, 'what would the Harv say or do?' He's left us with a lot of positive life lessons. I've no doubt that if he was around and we were going through what we are going through now, he'd put his arm around us for a few weeks and then he'd say, 'come on now, kick on.' We've to try and do it for him.”

For that reason, O'Callaghan made the trip to the Tattersalls Guineas Breeze-Up Sale just days after Fleming's funeral, where he signed for a Kodi Bear colt for 85,000gns under the name of Michael and Harvey. What is even more incredible about the fact the trainer summoned up the energy to make it to the sale during that time of grief was the fact that a number of leading buyers, who, upon seeing O'Callaghan bid on the colt, opted against taking the trainer on in the ring. 

O'Callaghan recalled, “Heading back to the sales the week after his passing was extremely difficult. It was raw. It was the Guineas Breeze-Up Sale and I'd say it was the first sale I'd been to in a long, long time on my own. But I had to do it. My wingman wasn't around anymore but he would have wanted me to go there. When you lose someone very close to you, there are a lot of firsts after they pass. So that was my first sale, first airport and first horse I bought without him. It was a very special moment, which I had a feeling about at the time and had it confirmed to me afterwards, that there were some interested buyers in the Kodi Bear colt who actually stood down for me when they saw me bidding. They stood aside, which was very special, and when the clipboard came my way, I just signed down Michael and Harvey because I couldn't think of anything else. Harvey always shirked the limelight. We had over 150 winners together in partnerships but he always wanted to keep his name away from it. Even bidding on a horse, he'd never even bid himself. So hopefully that Kodi Bear can be lucky for us.”

More immediately, O'Callaghan has a nice blend of two-year-olds, stakes performers and potentially well-handicapped horses to look forward to at the royal meeting, headed by the hugely significant The Harv.

John Fleming: a huge influence on O'Callaghan's career | Tattersalls

He concluded, “The obvious target for The Harv would be the Coventry. He doesn't qualify for the new Windsor Castle and I feel he's more of a six-furlong horse on fast ground than an out-and-out five-furlong horse, so he'll go to the Coventry. Celeron (Mohaather), who won a Curragh maiden, does qualify for the Windsor Castle and, funnily enough, Harvey is involved in that partnership. His family were at the Curragh when he won and they will be at Ascot as well, so that will be something to look forward to. He's a very, very talented horse who could potentially get a mile next year. He has plenty of talent and, for our lad to do it in the style that he did, he's very exciting.

“After that, we have Black Forza in the Wokingham, if he gets in. Very happy with him lately and, if he can sneak in off 96, six furlongs on fast ground might be right up his street and he seems to have found his mojo again. Bamako Beach is in the Jersey and the Britannia and Sky Watch is in the Sandringham. They're both in the Goffs London Sale on the Monday because they are part of the traditional trading partnerships that Harvey and myself put together. We would always get the horses to a point that we're selling them when we don't want to because that's when they're most valuable and I've no doubt that their futures are bright. From Monday onwards, hopefully we can have a bit of luck because it's a tough place to get a winner. Crispy Cat finishing third in the Norfolk is the closest we've got to winning there so hopefully our luck can change. I know one thing, I am going there with a bit of special help from above this time.”