Irish trainer has gone from strength to strength over jumps and on the Flat since Sizing John won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2017 and has high hopes of success at Newmarket on Sunday
When Jessica Harrington was named Ireland’s sportswoman of the year in 2017, a couple of months before her 71st birthday, she listed three ambitions for her training career which remained unfulfilled: a Classic winner on the Flat, a winner at Royal Ascot and a Grand National winner at Aintree. Within six months, she had crossed off one and two, and while the National continues to elude her, Harrington’s mare Magic Of Light finished second to Tiger Roll in 2019 and was one of the favourites for this year’s race before it was abandoned due to the
Coronavirus crisis.
It is just the way that things have been going for Harrington over the last few years: one fresh achievement after another, at a point in her career, and in life, when many might be considering easing down a little. Instead, and in the space of three or four seasons, she has turned her yard in Moone in County Kildare into the most successful dual-purpose stable in the game.