Highfield Princess: 'That was when we felt we really had something amazing'

This is a Fans' Favourites article first published in October 2022, which we are republishing following the death of Highfield Princess on Sunday.

Good things do come to those who wait. Just ask Jason Hart, whose career has been turned upside down in a whirlwind summer that proved patience really is a virtue by one special horse – Highfield Princess.

At the start of August, Hart, the 2013 champion apprentice jockey, had never won a Group 1. By mid-September, he had won three at the top level thanks to his five-year-old wondermare's rapid and remarkable run that started at Deauville and ended at the Curragh, with a home pit-stop at York in between.

In just 34 days, Highfield Princess, owned by former Channel 4 Racing supremo John Fairley and trained by John Quinn, had gone from a smart performer based in the north of England to Europe's sprint sensation with victories in the Prix Maurice de Gheest, Nunthorpe and Flying Five Stakes.

The daughter of 2,000 Guineas winner Night Of Thunder has emulated sprinting greats like Dayjur, Black Caviar, Blue Point and Muhaarar in winning three Group 1 speed tests in a row – a feat which looked incomprehensible just over two years ago when she was a 58-rated maiden after her third run as a three-year-old, having been unraced as a juvenile.

"It's mad to think, honestly," Hart says. "I hadn't ridden a Group 1 winner and had wanted it so badly for ages, then she comes along and produces three in the madness of 30-odd days. It's perplexing.

"She's proven herself to be one of the best sprinters around, no doubt, and it proves you don't have to spend millions to get a Group 1 winner.

"The thing about this story is John [Fairley] bought her dam [Pure Illusion] so cheaply for 18,000gns carrying her. It shows you don't need to spend an absolute fortune to compete. That'll give a lot of owners optimism and hope for the future."

What the future holds will be a transatlantic trip to attempt to claim the world's leading sprinter crown at the Breeders' Cup, but the early moments of her past certainly did not hint at stardom.

Her first four starts at Class 5 and 6 level saw her beaten comprehensively each time, before she got off the mark on her second run in handicap company at Ayr in September 2020.

Three more wins under Hart followed in a busy end to that year, and there were hopes she could continue to pay her way with some nice successes around the northern tracks, or even pick up some coveted black type.

That was, until, her deadly change of gear and blistering pace first revealed itself under James Sullivan in a 7f fillies' handicap at Haydock in May 2021. She left Hart dazzled, despite him not being in the saddle that day.

"She took a long time to figure everything out, and it was a fair bit of time, but she always felt like she was one to climb the ranks steadily rather than shooting up straight away and winning by ten or so lengths," Hart recalls.

"The way the boss campaigned her was nice and steady, but we never felt it would turn out like it has, but she has the pedigree to be really good and is a good-looking filly.

"The first time she looked like she could take on anything was when Jimmy Sullivan rode her. She absolutely bolted up and we were amazed. We thought this was her starting to really fulfil her potential."

That potential shone through at Britain's grandest Flat meeting two starts later. Highfield Princess got into the Buckingham Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot as bottomweight, but led her rivals a merry dance under Hart to score at 18-1 off a mark of 92.

That length-and-a-quarter success gave Hart and Fairley their first wins at the royal meeting, a memorable landmark that was not dampened by the drizzle in the air or the fact the crowd was not at full capacity due to Covid.

Now rated 100, Highfield Princess's first Pattern success followed in a Listed race at Chelmsford, before she hit the frame twice at Group level, but her sixth-placed effort on her first try at 6f in the British Champions Sprint at Ascot left Hart dreaming an elusive top-level triumph could realistically be on the horizon.

"By then, she was already special to me in more ways than one," he says referring to that Royal Ascot victory. "It was great that John Fairley was at Ascot that day as he's been in the game long enough to really appreciate the good days.

"It was a great day, and you never know what it would have been like with a big crowd, but you had to really enjoy it all the same.

"We were thinking we might have a crack at a big one later in the season, and it was another huge run at Ascot. It was nice to go into the winter thinking we had a filly to have fun with next year. It definitely warmed us up."

In fact, it was still winter when Highfield Princess returned to action on a bitterly cold February night at Chelmsford. It was not the scenario Hart had had in mind during his winter dreams, but it was the starting point for her unbelievable run in 2022.

She was a beaten 8-13 favourite that day in Essex and failed to win on her next two starts over 7f and 5f at Wolverhampton, the latter her first encounter with the minimum trip.  

By now she had won four races on Polytrack, and Quinn decided that an ultra-valuable 7f contest on All-Weather Championships finals day at Newcastle was next on the agenda. Racing off a mark of 104, Highfield Princess ran out a comfortable winner.

"To prove herself on different surfaces and tracks shows how versatile she is," says Hart. "Even one of her runs in defeat at Wolverhampton was really good as it was her first try over five furlongs."

The minimum trip would be the making of Highfield Princess, but her first Group win came when she defeated Minzaal by three-quarters of a length in the 1895 Duke of York Stakes over six furlongs.

"That was the moment when we felt we really had something amazing," Hart recalls. "She absolutely cantered through that race, and it was against a fair few decent sprinters – look at what Minzaal has achieved since [won Group 1 Haydock Sprint Cup].

"She put it to bed so easily. It was the day I knew she'd be winning a Group 1 soon."

Connections of Highfield Princess in happy mood after their Prix Maurice de Gheest winCredit: Racing Post / Scott Burton

That landmark triumph came on at Deauville's flagship summer meeting. Sent off a 10-1 for the Prix Maurice de Gheest, Highfield Princess raced with her usual zest and kicked for home in the final two furlongs. The winning margin was just three-quarters of a length, but the ramifications of her success were huge.

Hart could now proudly boast of being a Group 1-winning jockey and part of the elite, as could Fairley, while Quinn was dining at the top table for the first time in eight years, having last won at the highest level when The Wow Signal landed the Prix Morny at Deauville in 2014.

"It's a day I will never forget," says Hart. "I'd had a few rides in Group 1s and placed in a few, but to get on a horse who had a genuine chance and who could prove I could get the job done on the biggest stage was massive.

"When I got off her at Royal Ascot this year, I thought she had run a massive race and you could just see the boss was setting a plan. I knew he was picking a race in his mind by the way he was looking at her. He thought the Maurice de Gheest looked the perfect race for her and luckily, it all went smoothly."

There was no time for the team to rest on their laurels, however, as a tilt at the Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes just 12 days later was on the horizon.

She was not underestimated this time, and was sent off the 5-1 third-favourite. But she scored in even better style than in France, storming into the history books to become the first winner of the Maurice de Gheest and Nunthorpe in the same year.

It was very much a victory for Yorkshire, even if two of the trio involved in the Highfield Princess story did not originally hail from there.

Scotsman Hart and County Tipperary native Quinn's careers had flourished in the White Rose county, but just under an hour from the trainer's Highfield Stables in Malton, where Fairley is Quinn's landlord, they had landed Britain's most prestigious 5f sprint.

"France was brilliant because it was my first and all that, but to get one on home soil was huge," Hart admits. "It was even more special as my wife and loads of my friends were there, and having been based in Yorkshire for a long time, even though I'm Scottish, really felt like a home victory.

"York is my local track and I rode my first Group winner there too. They bend over backwards for everyone, especially the owners, which made it even more special to get it there."

Quinn was left biting his racecard in disbelief once Highfield Princess had crossed the line two and a half lengths in front of The Platinum Queen, who would go on to win her own Group 1 in the Prix de l'Abbaye last weekend.

The battle between head and heart in letting her take her place on the Knavesmire crippled the Highfield Princess team until minutes before declaration time. In the end, it took just seconds to be beautifully justified.

"She was electric that day and the turn of foot she showed in the final furlong was unbelievable," says Hart. "It was something else. You could only go 'wow'.

"We got a lead in the race and were just able to follow The Platinum Queen and stalk and aim at her. The way we travelled from the off, I was extremely confident."

Such a prestigious double saw her book a place in the record books, but the tale was far from over. Just three weeks after her York heroics, Highfield Princess travelled to the Curragh on Irish Champions Weekend. What followed was her best performance yet.

Her trademark stalk, pounce and sprint clear style was in full effect as she handed out a three-and-a-quarter length beating to her Flying Five Stakes rivals. Three countries, three races, three wins in just five weeks, but she had saved her best performance for Irish Champions Weekend, a result which proved nothing in Europe could touch her.

"That was the strongest she travelled and I knew we had it in the bag after a furlong," says Hart. "She travelled so bloody strongly. As soon as I pressed the button she accelerated and she was away and gone.

"The ground was nicer on the stands' side and when we were drawn on the other side I was slightly concerned, but she jumped ever so well and showed she's really taken sprinting into her stride. It was staggering."

With Europe conquered, becoming the world's best is next on the agenda for Highfield Princess.

Just over two years on from picking up a paltry £2,781.67 for her first win at Ayr, she will fight it out against the likes of Golden Pal for the $1 million purse in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Keeneland next month. Whatever happens there, she could stay in training next year.

In a year that started at Chelmsford but will end in Kentucky, Hart reminds himself each time he sees Highfield Princess just how lucky he is to ride a horse who simply goes about her business at home and shines on the track.

Not only is she Yorkshire's wondermare, but Britain's darling. By the beginning of next month, she could be the world's sprint queen too.

"I never, ever thought I'd ride a horse of her calibre – I owe her a huge amount," says Hart. "She holds a special place in my heart that's for sure.

"I definitely could not have dreamed about where we are right now. Obviously, after Royal Ascot we definitely thought we'd be running again for black type, but not at this level.

"She's just starting her prep for American now. It'll be a totally different test given they come out like lightning from the gates, but I have no doubt she'll be a live contender.

"Let's hope we can get her there in one piece and do not just ourselves, but everyone that loves her proud."

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'We will miss her more than words can say' - Highfield Princess dies due to fracture after stall accident 

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