Interview: Jessica Harrington on her biggest wins, family and continued success

Many successful sportspeople that are credited with longevity are rarely also attributed with sustained success. The victory for them has come in their staying power as opposed to their vast collection of trophies or medals at home. Horse racing can provide an example both in some instances and one Jessica Harrington could certainly put her name into that category.

Jessica mentions many pivotal moments in the development of the early part of her career but flagged one in particular back in 1996. 

“Winning a bumper race at Fairyhouse with Brockley Court, it was my first or second year of training and I only had five or so horses. He won at the big (December) meeting in Fairyhouse. I got more horses out of that than any of my others down the country. That sort of kick started my career,” Jessica explained.

The 8/1 shot winner in Fairyhouse for the relative novice trainer would garner attention for the then 49 year-old. In the same year, Harrington would train Space Trucker to win at Cheltenham in the Grade 1 Fighting Fifth Hurdle, as she began to make her mark on the British and Irish racing landscape.

Space Trucker would  go on to win the last race of the 20th century in the Cheltenham festival that Jessica refers to as another “landmark” win for her.

As mentioned, Jessica’s own longevity is a personal mark of pride and she continues to be motivated to carry on. She hasn’t won every race that she wants to yet and at the time of this interview had her eye on the aptly named Lifetime Ambition’s chances in the 2023 Aintree Grand National.

“I believe I have the right horse for it, Lifetime Ambition and it is a lifetime ambition of mine to win that race. I was brought up on the Grand National, I can remember Mr.What winning the (Aintree) Grand National,” Jessica recalled.

“The pictures of that day and of the celebrations when they returned to Cashel were superb. There are lots of little bits and pieces that I remember and that’s why it became a race that I really wanted to win. Despite only having three runners in it ever.”

Jessica does have an Irish Grand National win under her belt that she referred to as “absolutely amazing” when mentioned. The Irish National win came in an incredible year for her and jockey Robbie Power. The pair combined in 2017 for one of the standout years in racing history with each of their first Irish Grand National wins. 

Added to that, Power rode and Jessica trained the first horse since Imperial Call in 1996 to win both the Irish Gold Cup and the Cheltenham Gold Cup in the same season, Sizing John.

However, before Jessica would recall the glory of 2017 with Sizing John she paid enormous tribute to the horse's previous trainer Henry de Bromhead.

“I was lucky to get Sizing John and he was a stunning horse that year. He had to be a great horse because he was looking at the back of Douvan all of the time. We stepped him up to three miles. It was surreal with him running so well that year,” Jessica explained.

“Winning those Gold Cups was amazing and within six months both (owners) Ann and Alan Potts had died. That was the tragedy of the story because the fun they could have had the following years.”

Just three years prior to the one filled with glory, Jessica would suffer a personal tragedy of her own with the passing of her husband Johnny Harrington in April 2014 following a battle with cancer. After his death Jessica in her own words was “wavering” on whether to continue training.

“The kids encouraged me to keep going. Johnny had always been there behind me. There was always someone there when I got home and needed to blow off some steam,” Jessica said.

“The children were so great and said they would support me and they have done amazing. I don’t know where the nine years have gone but Kate, Emma and Richie have been fantastic to me.”

In a career with a litany of successes, Jessica Harrington says she couldn’t pick a singular greatest memory amongst them. However, she felt a personal connection to her star of the early 2000s, Moscow Flyer. 

“He never won races by very wide margins. He always did as much as he had to do. He wasn’t winning by 20 lengths everytime he just did as much as he had to regardless of the class of horse he was beating,” Jessica said.

“If he was beating a top class horse it would be two and a half to three lengths. He did enough to win and that probably paid into the longevity of his career.”

Even following incredible wins for the bay-coloured gelding in the Punchestown Champion Hurdle, Champion Chase alongside many more, Jessica holds the horses last run closest to her heart.

“I have got great memories…what is the best one? My daughter Kate winning the charity race on Moscow Flyer. That was amazing because she had never ridden in a race and he had come out of retirement,” Jessica recalled.

“He could be quite bold. I just thought what am I doing, the pressure of that and they just did it so easily and loved it. That is a one-off memory, all of those other races will be run again but that is truly unique.”

An anecdote offering insight into the importance of her family and an incredible summation of a person and career. Jessica Harrington is still pulling up trees in the horse racing game to this day as she builds upon her legacy year after year from Commonstown Stud in Moone.