Born in Hawick in the Scottish Borders on September 28, 1994, Jason Hart was still only 15 years old when he took the well-trodden path, previously followed by fellow ‘Teries’ Keith Dalgleish and Greg Fairley, to the Kingsley Park Yard of Mark Johnston in Middleham, North Yorkshire. Having previously ridden out for local trainer Donald Whillans, he had seven, unsuccesful, rides for Johnston in 2011, all on the five-year-old Elusive Flame, before switching allegiance to Declan Carroll in nearby Malton.
Indeed, it was Carroll who provided Hart with his first winner, Spice Bar, in a two-mile handicap at Ripon on August 30, 2011. He rode 7 winners in 2011, 18 in 2012 and 51 in 2013, in the latter season winning the apprentices’ title. However, he had much for which to thank his agent, Alan Harrison, with whom he has remained since the start of his career; just six of his winners were provided by Carroll, with the rest coming from outside rides.
Shortly after riding out his claim, in 2015, Hart suffered ruptured knee ligaments in a pile-up at Doncaster, which kept him on the sidelines for seven months. Nevertheless, he rode his first ‘black type’ winner, Ridge Ranger, trained by Eric Alston, in the Listed Kilvington Fillies’ Stakes at Nottingham on May 7, 2016. The same filly would become his first Group winner, in the Group 3 York Stakes, two months later.
In more recent times, Hart is best known for his association with the sprinting mare Highfield Princess, trained by John Quinn. The daughter of Night Of Thunder was responsible for all four of his Group 1 victories to date, namely the Prix Maurice de Gheest, Nunthorpe Stakes and Flying Five Stakes in 2022 and the Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp in 2023. She also became his first Royal Ascot winner when winning the Buckingham Palace Stakes.
