Jessica Harrington

It's a childish game but I've long amused myself by seeing how many song titles can be weaved into headlines and this weekend's results provided an open goal for a Neil Young classic, not once but twice.  Two hurricanes blew across Town Moor on Saturday at the opposite ends of the distance spectrum. Hurricane Ivor (Ire) (Ivawood {GB}) is an admirable sprinter who has bounced back from a blistering debut for Fabrice Chappet and subsequent illness that ruled him out of much of his juvenile season. He has been creeping...

The Curragh's G2 Debutante S. is always a key pointer to the course-and-distance G1 Moyglare Stud S. and Sunday proved no exception as the one-two-three again filled those places headed by the Niarchos Family's Discoveries (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}). Only third to Agartha (Ire) (Caravaggio) in that seven-furlong precedent Aug. 21, the Jessica Harrington trainee has abundant room for improvement within as a full-sister to Alpha Centauri (Ire) and half to Alpine Star (Ire) (Sea the Moon {Ger}) and was able to turn that around on this slicker surface. Sent up...

Jessica Harrington trainee No Speak Alexander (Ire) (Shalaa {Ire}) came back off a break to finish 10th behind the reopposing G1 1000 Guineas heroine Mother Earth (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) in last month's G1 Prix Rothschild at Deauville and stepped forward to shock a stellar field in Saturday's G1 Coolmore America 'Justify' Matron S. at Leopardstown. She had previously backed up a solid five-race juvenile campaign to snag The Curragh's May 3 Athasi S. on seasonal return and hit the board back there in the May 23 G1 Irish 1000 Guineas...

Trainer Jessica Harrington has been fined €2,000 after the incorrect horse was saddled and won a 2-year-old maiden at the Galway Festival. Harrington's Alizarine (GB) (Sea The Moon {Ger}) appeared to win the Colm Quinn BMW Irish EBF Fillies Maiden on debut July 27. Instead, it was discovered that the Harrington-trained 3-year-old Aurora Princess (Ire) (The Gurkha {Ire}) had run instead. The latter was marked a non-runner in a handicap race later on the card and the race was instead awarded to Twinkle (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). After calling the incident...

Zhang Yuesheng's 2-year-old filly Magical Lagoon (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who crossed the line first in a June 28 Dundalk barrier trial, shaped with promise on the front end when fourth to Albula (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) contesting an Aug. 2 one-mile maiden at Naas in her only official start and the Jessica Harrington trainee exacted revenge on that reopposing rival by swooping late for a career high in Friday's G3 Manguard Plus Irish EBF Flame of Tara S. over the same trip at The Curragh. The 9-2 chance made an alert...

With their horse coming off a win in a Group 3 stakes race, the connections of Cadillac (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) could have easily pointed their horse to some of the major stakes remaining on the European calendar. Instead, the 3-year-old colt will be in Saratoga Saturday for the GI Saratoga Derby Invitational. With so many lucrative opportunities available, it is growing increasingly difficult for European stables to ignore a stakes schedule laden with rich, winnable races. "This is a very valuable race, it's a Grade I and it...

Trainer Jessica Harrington took to Twitter on Wednesday to apologize for the error that saw the wrong horse run in, and cross the wire first, in a 2-year-old maiden at Galway on Tuesday. Harrington's first-time starter Alizarine (GB) (Sea The Moon {Ger}) had been entered for the race and appeared to run out an eye-catching winner, but it was soon discovered that the stable's 3-year-old filly Aurora Princess (Ire) (The Gurkha {Ire}), who had nine prior starts for two wins, had mistakenly run instead. Galway stewards disqualified the winner, meaning...

A mix-up between two fillies trained by Jessica Harrington led to the first past the post in Galway's second race, the Colm Quinn Irish EBF Fillies Maiden, later being disqualified.  The juvenile contest initially appeared to have been won by Kirsten Rausing's debutante Alizarine (GB) (Sea The Moon {Ger}). Following an objection and stewards' enquiry, the filly transpired to be her 3-year-old stable-mate Aurora Princess (Ire) (The Gurkha {Ire}), a dual winner in June who was set to be making her tenth start. She was subsequently withdrawn. An initial enquiry...

Poetic Flare (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}), the winner of the G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas, is among the 14 entries for the G1 Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas. The bay Jim Bolger homebred won the G3 Killavullan S. at two, and was first past the post in the Listed Ballylinch Stud "Red Rocks" 2000 Guineas Trial S. on Apr. 11 prior to his 2000 Guineas score. He most recently contested the G1 Emirates Poule d'Essai des Poulains at ParisLongchamp in very soft ground to finish sixth. His Group 1-winning stablemate Mac Swiney...

Trainer Jessica Harrington has been banned from attending the races for two weeks and fined €3,500 after breaking COVID-19 protocols at Aintree's Grand National meeting, the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board announced on Monday. Harrington "acted in a manner which was prejudicial to the proper conduct or good reputation of horseracing" the IHRB hearing found and her ban will last until May 24. Harrington, who had both Magic of Light (Ire) (Flemensfirth) and Jett (Ire) (Flemensfirth) in the Grand National, did not stay in the 'Irish Bubble' set up for the...

Registration remains open for the fifth International Forum for the Aftercare of Racehorses (IFAR), to be held virtually in a series of live webinars each Tuesday, beginning Apr. 6 through Apr. 27. Each session begins at 12 p.m. GMT (8 a.m. Eastern time) and lasts approximately one hour. "With nearly 300 registrants already, we are excited by the enthusiasm demonstrated by the Thoroughbred industry for what will truly be a global event," said Di Arbuthnot, chair of IFAR. "Between educating on aftercare best practices, offering case studies on aftercare programs...

It has been a strange year and the Covid pandemic has meant that we have had to revolutionise the way we try to keep owners informed. We use a very good system now called Racing Manager and we do a lot of videoing of the horses, talking to their lads, talking to the jockeys. Because people haven't been allowed to come racing we interview the jockeys in the parade ring before racing, take photos of the horses in the parade ring and afterwards and then another video with the jockey's...