Renowned horsewoman Jessica Harrington was honoured for her exceptional contribution to the racing and equestrian worlds with the prestigious award of merit at the Cartier Racing Awards.
The Daily Telegraph/Cartier Award of Merit recognises the person, or people, who has done the most for European racing or breeding either over their lifetime or within the past 12 months, and is decided by a 16-strong jury. Derby winner City Of Troy was crowned Horse of the Year at the ceremony, held at The Dorchester on Wednesday (20 November).
Jessica, a top event rider before she embarked on her successful training career in the late 1980s, said receiving the award is “an absolute honour”.
“It’s unbelievable. When Marcus [Armytage of The Daily Telegraph] rang me up to say that I had been awarded this and gave me the date, I said ‘I think I’m away then, I don’t think I will be able to come’. He said I had to,” she said.
“I just look at the people who have been awarded it before and I think ‘God, how am I upsides all those people?’”
“I’ve been very lucky all my life. I’ve had a wonderful career and, every time I want to do something, I want to get better at it. It’s great to have all my friends and family here with me when you get something like this.”
Jessica finished third at Badminton in 1983 with Amoy and represented Ireland at four European Championships plus 1982 World Championships. She rode in the Olympic substitute competition at Fontainebleau in 1980, which was held owing to the Olympic boycott of the Moscow Games. Jessica was selected for the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, taking part in the opening ceremony, but was unable to compete as her ride went lame shortly after arriving in California.
Jessica also acted as a high-performance advisor to the Irish team at London 2012.
Jessica has had outstanding success in National Hunt and Flat racing over the past four decades. The most of her 13 Group One wins on the Flat came in last month’s Futurity Trophy at Doncaster with Hotazhell, who carried the same Silverton Hill colours as her first top-level winner, Pathfork, 14 years earlier.
“When I was eventing, I had no thoughts of training racehorses – I didn’t start to do that until I got to a fair ripe old age and I’ve kept on going. One thing led to another and I was very lucky in my life – one door closed and another door opened. Whether it’s been a case of the right place at the right time,” she said.
“Peter Queally was a great help when I first started training, he was my first big owner to come in and say ‘Right, let’s have some horses to do this and do this’. I ended up having a Cheltenham winner and that was the only thing to have – you want to have a Royal Ascot winner or a Cheltenham winner.
“Moscow Flyer was in an era of very good two-mile chasers and we had great fun training him. He was one of those horses that I didn’t really appreciate until he retired. He just kept on delivering.”
She added: “I’m mainly Flat racing now and it’s fantastic. I’ve been very lucky because I’ve been supported by some wonderful owners on the Flat and a lot of owner/breeders. We just have to keep on working and hoping I can keep on producing results for them.
“It was great to get a Group One with Hotazhell as we hadn’t had one for a few years and you are always striving to do that. When you get one again, you think it’s great to get that in the bag, but we actually want some more. We can always dream of Classics and there are lots of things I still haven’t won, so I still dream and want to win.
“On the National Hunt, I suppose there are three horses that stand out – Moscow Flyer, Jezki and Sizing John. On the Flat, Alpha Centauri was just the most amazing filly. To then train her two siblings Alpine Star and Discoveries to win Group Ones was absolutely fantastic.
“I’d like to do more. We’d like to win more in France and Australia. I’m always pushing the boundaries and wanting to do more.”
Cartier UK’s managing director Laurent Feniou added that Jessica is an “inspirational figure across the equestrian world”.
The Aidan O’Brien-trained City Of Troy headed the equine awards with the horse of the year accolade, in addition to the Cartier three-year-old colt prize. The Justify son, owned by a Coolmore partnership that includes Sue Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith, landed the Betfred Derby, Coral-Eclipse and Juddmonte International, and has now retired to stud at Coolmore’s Irish base.
“We are trying to produce the next champion every time and you need to have the best at stud, that’s what people want. He’s a superstar with a beautiful pedigree and a beautiful looking horse, so we are really looking forward to him. I think he will be a huge asset to the breeding operations in Europe,” said Coolmore Ireland manager Christy Grassick.
John Magnier’s daughter Sam and her husband Charlie Pearson were presented with the horse of the year award.
Mr Feniou congratulated all the winners and added that City Of Troy “looked an exceptional colt throughout the season and he is a worthy recipient”.
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