Jessica Harrington on her biggest challenge, ‘genius’ Willie Mullins and more

Jessica Harrington has described "running of the business" as her biggest issue as a trainer.

Speaking to Betway, the legendary handler admitted she would like to see prize money at the bottom to increase to attract new owners.

Harrington pointed to Australia as an example of where it’s done right and also reflected on her successes this season.

Let’s start with your rip-roaring success in the Prix de L’Opera on Arc weekend. That was fantastic, wasn’t it?

JH: "That was fantastic. Barnavara has been a great filly for us. She was a good filly last year. She won her maiden, and she has turned up at every Group race. She just did very well last year without getting up. She probably came in underneath the radar for this year.

"She didn’t have a great first run on very soft ground. But then she became a revelation. She was fantastic from then on in."

How important was Barnavara’s win in terms of giving everyone a filip?

JH: "Really important, I have not had a good season really. You’d have to say it was disappointing. So therefore, that was great, that was wonderful to get that."

And what do you put the disappointments down to this year?

JH: "Some horses underperformed and I had a lot of trouble with the ground. We had two horses that won listed races, Fleur de Chine and Norwalk have been in training all year waiting for soft ground. So, a few different things really. And a lot of my two year olds were backward. But that can happen."

What are your ambitions for this season?

JH: "We’ll just get a few winners on the board and keep the yard ticking over. We’ll take each day as it comes and what happens, happens. I probably do lose sleep over things but I’m not going to tell you what!

"The job never gets any easier. As I always say, you have to keep re-inventing yourself every year and coming up with new ideas. When you start off, you have aims and if you reach them then you might think ’I’ve made it’ but you never make it. You always want to be better next year.

"I have no thoughts of winding down. It is a family business, and it would carry on perfectly well without me. Richie [Galway] runs the syndicates and also does the maintenance as well as working part-time at Punchestown."

How important has Shane Foley been as her jockey?

JH: "He has been very important because he knows her very well. It was just unfortunate that the day that she got beat because Seamie Heffernan rode her and he came in after the race, and he apologised.

He said: ‘I’m sorry, I should have made more use of her. I should have gone quicker.’

"That was a problem there which we kind of knew. Then she just went on improving. Also, she just might have needed it that day in the Snow Fairy Stakes at the Curragh. She hadn’t run for a good while, so that was also a problem.

"She was a filly that we knew from the spring that she was very good at backing up runs because in June when she won the listed race in Navan, we backed her up very quickly and she ran in the Group 3 at Naas less than three weeks later and she was very good.

"So, I knew I was going to have no problem with us running her in the Blandford and then taking her straight to the Prix de L’Opera despite there being only three weeks between them."

And your first Group 1 of the year and only the second in three years? What does that mean to you and the yard?

JH: "Hotazhell landed the Futurity this time last year beating Delacroix. So, it’s fabulous for all of us to win another."

What’s next for her?

JH: "She was mapped straight away into the sales in Newmarket. Barnavara is owned by the Alpha Syndicate, which we have had for the last seven or eight years. It’s been pretty successful.

"That’s how the syndicate operates; they come in for two years and sell.

"We set up the syndicate to race, have fun, and hopefully wash its face and make or make money every year and we’ve done that more or less every year."

And what about this year then for the syndicate?

JH: "It could be a nice payday because we’ve also got Saratoga Special in the syndicate as well and she goes to the Newmarket December sales as well.

"They’re both still racing, they’re not just stud prospects. They are both racing prospects.

"She cost €80,000 so hopefully there will be a nice premium there! She’s gone on improving and she’s a very big filly. So she’s very exciting.

"It was great in Paris as we had a lot of the syndicate members over there."

Will you be sad to see her go or is it just business?

JH: "I would be very sad but I’m trying to persuade someone to buy her and leave her in the yard. That might happen. You never know."

Has she been entered for anything going forward?

JH: "No. She’s done quite enough racing for this year. She’s won a Listed, a Group 3, a Group 2, and a Group 1 and was second in a Group 3. She has had plenty of racing and she gave it all at Longchamp. I would not like to be running her again quickly, she gave everything in that race."

And what about the Arc and Hotazhell?

JH: "He ran very well. He has been to every party this year and he’s run well every time. He’s never run a bad race and he stays in training next year."

In terms of your dual purpose yard, the focus is swinging more towards the Flat. Is that correct?

JH: "Yes. I do not have very many jumpers. We’ll just see how it goes.

"We’ve just got a couple of nice ones and it’s nice to have a little bit of downtime during the winter and get everything sorted out, ready for next spring.

"My balance is 90 percent flat, 10 percent jumpers. With regard to my approach for the jumpers it is definitely quality over quantity. We have about 10.

"My heart loves jumping but commercially and making a living, the Flat is the commercial and the National Hunt is the love."

What are the National Hunt horses you think well of?

JH: "We’ve got Jerrari who has won twice. I have a very nice horse called Quinta Do Largo who won the Academy Hurdle in October. He’s a lovely horse. So is Powerful, plus there are a couple of other young ones."

When might we see them?

JH: "You won’t see them until the spring."

When do you start plotting Cheltenham?

JH: "It’s too early to start thinking about that. There’s a lot of water to go under the bridge before then."

Willie Mullins continues to amaze and surprise in equal measure? He’s incredible and winning at Del Mar was just remarkable, wasn’t it?

JH: "It was a staggering performance. That was amazing - it is lovely to bring a jumper over there. It just shows how good these jumpers are. I think he was going out there hoping he wouldn’t be tailed off last.

"To go and do that, he got a brilliant ride from Dylan Browne McMonagle, he really did. He’s very good. It’s lovely to have these young ones coming up.

"Willie is an absolute genius of a trainer. What’s so nice about him is that he’s such a lovely person himself and he takes nothing for granted. He works very hard and I just think you have to admire him for that."

Willie is one of a few super yards in Ireland. How tough is it competing against them?

JH: "It’s not easy. It’s the same on the flat though, every year, our ambition is to get ahead of the O’Briens - Joseph O’Brien! But we end up in the same position, Aidan [O’Brien] first, Joseph second, me and Ger [Lyons] third or fourth or vice versa. It’s a laugh, but we won’t get ahead of them! Joseph is amazing. It has taken me 40 years to get to this point and him only five years."

What is your biggest issue as a trainer?

JH: "The biggest challenge is probably cash flow as a trainer. You have to be careful between balancing getting enough money in and keeping the business going. Everything has gone up, labour, feed, the lot, general maintenance, and it is very easy to get out of sync. I think that is the biggest challenge, running the business.

"Then you have to run the owners too and keep the horses coming in, then you have to have good horses, or you won’t have winning racers.

"It is, to me, the biggest change is the running of the business."

Like everyone I suppose you’d like to see higher prize money?

JH: "I would like more prize money, for it to be increased so that you can attract an owner, so if you win a race and get placed twice then it pays for itself for a year.

"I envy the situation in Australia. You can attract people as owners because they have a lot of syndicates, who have a horse, X amount of people are involved and if he wins one race or two races then your expenses are covered. It’s not so much the buying of the horse, it is when you have it and the return on the prize money.

"You can win a maiden, OK it is a bit better here in Ireland now, but all racecourses should be at least worth £15k to the winner then it would be a great start.

"I know the top races are worth a lot of money but if we could keep the bottom up, as well as the top up, that would be great."

Have you got any new celebrity owners?

JH: "Not at the moment. Ronnie Wood has had horses with me for over 25 years.

"The first horse I had with him, we managed to win a race and then we bought another for him and she won on the flat and over hurdles. He was great as an owner."

What horses have you seen that you wouldn’t mind having them in your yard?

JH: "I am sure there are a good few I would like in the yard. I honestly couldn’t tell you right off the top of my head. No doubt they’ll materialise over the winter."

Is it more challenging for female trainers?

JH: "When I started there were very few and there are still very few of them now. I think it is challenging but it shouldn’t be. We should be treated as equals and sometimes you have to forget you are a woman, believe you are a trainer and get on with it."