Jessica Harrington

Yuesheng Zhang has built up an Irish stable with enviable horsepower while shopping with a relatively modest budget over the last few years. His stable star is undoubtedly last year's G1 Keeneland Phoenix S. winner Lucky Vega (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), who looks to someday have a future at stud both in Europe and at Zhang's Yulong property in Victoria, Australia. For now, though, connections have set their sights on the May 1 G1 2000 Guineas in Newmarket, with the colt preparing at Jessica Harrington's yard in good nick....

   The trainer originally best known for many high-class jumps winners that has made an eye-catching advance on Flat racing's top contests in recent years will share her thoughts with the TDN on a monthly basis in this most unusual of seasons. The Breeders' Cup is a fantastic meeting, one that serves as an end-of-year championship between Europe and the U.S. In a year such as this it is fantastic that we are still able to go over and have those great match-ups. I had my first runner at the...

Alpine Star (Ire) (Sea the Moon {Ger}), winner of the Coronation S. in June, will not race again this year and instead enjoy some time off. The Niarchos Family runner was runner-up in three consecutive Group 1s following her Ascot score-the July 5 Prix de Diane Longines, the Aug. 16 Prix Jacques le Marois and the Prix de l'Opera Longines on Arc Day, Oct. 4. "She ran another blinder in the Opera," said the Niarchos family's racing manager Alan Cooper of the Jessica Harrington trainee. "She's a tough, honest and...

   The trainer originally best known for many high-class jumps winners that has made an eye-catching advance on Flat racing's top contests in recent years will share her thoughts with the TDN on a monthly basis in this most unusual of seasons. It is an understatement to say that it has been a very strange year. In Ireland we managed a few meetings behind closed doors before racing shut down completely, and we then had some uncertainty over when it was going to start again. We eventually accepted the fact...

Group 1 winner Alpine Star (Ire) (Sea The Moon {Ger}), who won the G1 Coronation S. for the Niarchos Family and trainer Jessica Harrington in June, is under consideration for the Sept. 12 G1 Irish Champion S. at Leopardstown. A winner of the G2 Debutante S. at two, the chestnut kicked off her season in the Coronation, before runner-up performances in the G1 Prix de Diane Longines at Chantilly and the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville, on July 5 and Aug. 16, respectively. "At the moment, Mrs. Harrington...

Dual Classic heroine Love (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) is one of six fillies and mares holding their ground for the G1 Darley Yorkshire Oaks over the Knavesmire on Aug. 20. The Aidan O'Brien trainee dominated the G1 QIPCO 1000 Guineas by 4 1/4 lengths in June, and extended her winning margin to nine lengths over 1 ½ miles in the G1 Investec Oaks on July 4. The Coolmore representative faces two from the John Gosden yard, with Juddmonte's MSW Franconia (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and Anthony Oppenheimer's Frankly Darling (GB) (Frankel {GB}),...

68th Annual Round Table Conference hosted by The Jockey Club Purses subsidized by gaming revenue and a vastly expanded menu of claiming conditions were initially thought to be positive changes that would be a boon to Thoroughbred racing when racinos changed the North American landscape 30 years ago. Now, decades later, some horse people and industry stakeholders are starting to question whether chasing vastly inflated purses under narrowly defined race conditions is incentivizing a harmful cycle of behavior that over time imperils equine health, creates short fields, cheapens the betting...

Zhang Yuesheng's Lucky Vega (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) exited his emphatic victory in Sunday's G1 Keeneland Phoenix S. in good order, and trainer Jessica Harrington said she is deciding between two potential next targets. "I'm very happy with how he's come out of the race--he couldn't be better," Harrington said of the colt, who was cut to 16-1 for next year's G1 2000 Guineas following his 3 1/2-length win. "There's the [G1] Middle Park at Newmarket [on Sept. 26] and the National S. at The Curragh [on Sept. 13]--we...

The Jockey Club's 68th annual Round Table Conference on Matters Pertaining to Racing will be held virtually Sunday due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The conference will discuss the need for reform in medication rules and testing, challenges faced by the Thoroughbred industry and insights into the claiming system and will be streamed on The Jockey Club's website jockeyclub.com beginning at 10 a.m. The event will also be aired on TVG and Racetrack Television Network platforms. "While we are disappointed that we cannot host an in-person event, we are excited by...

Denied in the G2 Railway S. at The Curragh July 18, Lucky Vega (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) returned to the same course and six-furlong strip on Sunday to dominate a competitive renewal of the G1 Keeneland Phoenix S. Despite the presence of four group-winning colts Steel Bull (Ire) (Clodovil {Ire}), The Lir Jet (Ire) (Prince of Lir {Ire}), Ventura Tormenta (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) and Laws of Indices (Ire) (Power {GB}), the market spoke mainly for Lucky Vega who was supported into 4-1 second favouritism and also Ballydoyle's maiden St...

G1 Coronation S. winner Alpine Star (Ire) (Sea The Moon {Ger}), last seen finishing a short-neck second to Fancy Blue (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in the G1 Prix de Diane on July 5, could resurface in the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville on Aug. 16 if ground conditions play to her liking. "If all goes according to plan she could go to Deauville, but we just need to keep an eye on the ground," said Alan Cooper, racing manager to owner/breeder The Niarchos Family. "There's very hot weather...

Jessie Harrington is keen to put some of her most promising juveniles to the test in an intriguing card at Leopardstown on Thursday which features the G3 Japan Racing Association Tyros S. and G3 Frank Conroy Silver Flash S. In the former, which has played host to the likes of Teofilo (Ire), New Approach (Ire), Rip Van Winkle (Ire) and Churchill (Ire) in recent times, she saddles Alpha Racing 2020's impressive July 1 nine-length course-and-distance maiden winner Cadillac (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), while Robert Scarborough and Susan Magnier's Oodnadatta...