Jessica Harrington | Horse Racing Free Tips

Irishman Shane Foley Celebrates ‘Massive’ Win In International Jockeys Challenge; Mike Smith Third

Irish star Shane Foley emerged triumphant in the second annual stc International Jockeys Challenge after taking two out of the four legs, each worth US $400,000, in the Saudi Arabian competition.

Fourteen internationally-renowned male and female jockeys from all over the globe took part but it was the Classic-winning Foley, who rides for trainer Jessica Harrington in Ireland, who took Friday night's honors with a total of 30 points for his two wins.

He said: “It's massive to win this. It's a nice break and during a quiet time for us during the winter, so it's nice to get away and get the opportunity. We have a runner tomorrow (Barbados in the Red Sea Turf Handicap), but these challenges are important for young jockeys to get noticed around the world and hopefully it might open a few doors somewhere else.

“We have all-weather racing back home, but it's nothing like the dirt (track) is here. I've ridden in Japan for a couple of winters and ridden in America and it's nice, it's different (to ride on dirt).

“It's great to win and obviously can't do my career any harm. I have a fantastic job at home and Jessica Harrington is a great person to work for who has a fantastic team of horses, so it's all good.

“Pat (Smullen, nine-times Irish champion jockey, who died last September) was massive and travelled and won races all around the world – here, Dubai, everywhere. He would probably be here instead of me representing Ireland if he were still around. He was a fantastic man who's left a big legacy and big boots to fill behind, so we're all trying our best.”

The 32-year-old scored in the second leg on Emblem Star and prompted joyous celebrations among owners Albayraq Stable in the winner's enclosure when the 4-year-old Take Charge Indy colt crossed the finishing line four lengths in front of his rivals.

Foley fired in the second part of his double when the 5-year-old filly Motawariyah was another wide-margin winner in the third leg of the competition.

“It was such a privilege even to be invited here but to be competing and winning – it's the sort of thing you strive for,” said the delighted Irishman. “It's a fantastic racetrack and it's brilliant to be here.”

Victory in the fourth and final leg went to Saudi Arabian jockey Adel Alfouraidi on Zhabi Alhammad, a filly owned by Prince Faisal bin Khaled bin Abdul Aziz, earning the local crowd favorite the runner-up spot overall.

Alfouraidi said: “It means a lot to me. I am one of the Saudi riders and they are all going to be happy for this win, all the Saudi jockeys. She's a good filly and she gave me a lot of help throughout the race. We were all together but I am thanking God that I was able to win it. For me, this is a dream come true.”

He finished second in the jockeys challenge with 25 points – as well as his win, he picked up second place and therefore 15 points in the second leg – with Mike Smith third on 19 points.

The US Hall of Fame jockey Smith, known as 'Big Money Mike' took an early lead in the challenge when he snatched the first leg, sponsored by stc dare, on Mortajeh, having replaced John Velasquez.

Smith, who has a record 26 Breeders' Cup successes to his name and who won the American Triple Crown in 2018 on Justify, said: “They told me Mortajeh was quick and to use it to my advantage. I was called in to substitute at the last minute so I didn't know much about my mounts today, but sometimes when you don't know things, it works out better. It's great.

“I had a great night last time I was here on a Friday night (in 2020). It was so much fun and I wanted to do it again and look, I end up taking Johnny's spot and I was blessed enough to win.”

He continued: “I tell you, I enjoy riding here, I really do. I know I made a few mistakes and I had to pay for them last year and rightly so, but it's good to come back and try to redeem myself and we will see what happens.

“Lessons learned. You learn from big things like that and I learnt a big lesson and I humbled myself a whole lot and then I am ready for tomorrow. I'm very happy to be back and I'm happy to be back with a horse that has an abundance of talent.”

Japan's Nanako Fujita and Sweden's Malin Holmberg tied for fourth with 12 points, and Jessica Marcalis took sixth for Italy with a tally of 11 points.

All the riders, who included the great Frankie Dettori, were delighted to take part in the competition.

Fujita said: “It was a lot of fun. I'm disappointed I didn't win but I hope to be back so I can get revenge.”

Italian jockey Jessica Marcialis said: “It was amazing. The first race was different, it's a style that suits the American jockeys not the Europeans, but in the second race I thought 'I understand'. I didn't know where I was in the competition but I finished with a smile.”

British superstar Hollie Doyle added: “The track rode nice, the kickback was not as bad as you'd expect it to be and it isn't as deep as it looks, either. Obviously I didn't have much luck tonight but it was a good experience.”

Last year's winner, Switzerland's Sibylle Vogt, said: “It wasn't the same as last year but I'm really happy I could come again. I think I did get a third and a sixth but it wasn't for the points. I just wasn't as lucky as last year.”

Brazilian legend Jorge Riccardo said: “This has been a great experience. I am very impressed with the people here who are so nice. The track is spectacular. For me it is one of the best I have ridden on. I have been to many places like France, Brazil, Peru, Chile, the United States, but this is a great track.

“The people are so nice, so friendly and welcoming. I really enjoyed myself here. I am very pleased to have been here. It was very much worth coming here.”

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The Jessica Harrington Column: Breeders’ Cup Triple Threat

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 Breeders’ Cup last year at Santa Anita, with Albigna (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) finishing fourth in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, and I am looking forward to running three horses at Keeneland next weekend. I can remember Breeders’ Cups going way back, like when Lester Piggott came out of retirement and won the 1990 GI Breeders’ Cup Mile aboard Royal Academy. That was the most amazing race and there have been loads of fantastic races at the Breeders’ Cup, so it’s great to be part of it. I’m hoping the weather in Lexington stays nice and dry; I’m hearing they had some rain recently but that it’s supposed to be nice and dry next week, so as long as the ground is nice ground I’m perfectly happy.

This year I’ll be running Cayenne Pepper (Ire) (Australia {GB}) in the GI Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf, Oodnadatta (Ire) (Australia {GB}) in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf and Cadillac (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. They all did a breeze on Wednesday and they all seem very well. They’ll leave here on Friday and fly to England before heading on to the U.S. The plan is for our stable rider Shane Foley to go across and ride them. He has had an excellent year and is in contention for the Irish jockeys championship, but the Breeders’ Cup is too big an opportunity for him to miss.

Sarah Kelly’s 3-year-old filly Cayenne Pepper has been very good this year. She was a bit slow to come to hand, not running until June after showing such promise last year when winning her first three starts, including the G3 Flame of Tara S. and finishing fourth in the G1 Fillies’ Mile. Cayenne Pepper was second behind Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) on her first run this season over 10 furlongs in the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup on June 28, and then was twice beaten over 12 furlongs when second in the G1 Irish Oaks, beaten by Even So (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), and by Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal), Dermot Weld’s horse who also goes to the Breeders’ Cup, in the G3 Give Thanks S. in Cork.

I suppose both those runs were a bit disappointing, but then I brought her back to a mile and a quarter at The Curragh where she won the G2 Blandford S. very easily from Amma Grace (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who won the Listed Trigo S. at Leopardstown last weekend, so our form has been well franked. I think Cayenne Pepper is a proper mile and a quarter filly. She’s run on good ground, good to yielding ground, and good to soft ground so she’ll go on any sort of ground. She’s in good form, she’s had just the four races so far this year so she hasn’t done too much.

Bob Scarborough and Susan Magnier’s Oodnadatta won her maiden impressively first-time out at Leopardstown on June 21 and then she ran back at Leopardstown in the G3 Silver Flash S. She got a bump jumping out of the stalls and the whole thing went wrong and she finished fifth, beaten 7 1/2 lengths. So we then let her be and the next time we ran her in the G1 Moyglare Stud S. on Irish Champions Weekend. She ran very well again over seven furlongs to be a fast-finishing third. She will appreciate the step up in trip as long as the ground is nice ground, and I think she’s improved a bit since her last run.

Cadillac ran very well the first time he ran, winning first-time up in Leopardstown very easily and we were delighted with him. He then went to The Curragh for the G2 Futurity S. and he finished second, a half-length behind Mac Swiney (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}), who won the G1 Vertem Futurity Trophy last Saturday. In September he went to the G2 KPMG Champions Juvenile S. on Irish Champions Weekend and he won that beating Van Gogh (American Pharoah), who won the G1 Criterium International last weekend, so his form has been franked a few times.

We then went to Newmarket for the G1 Dewhurst S. and the ground was very soft and he finished fifth, beaten 4 1/4 lengths, behind St Mark’s Basilica (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}). He just got stuck in the ground; both times he’s been beaten the ground has been soft so we really are looking for a bit of nice ground for him, and they seem to think it’s going to be nice at Keeneland.

Cadillac is owned by Alpha Racing, which is a syndicate we set up and it’s got some American interest in it as well. This is the second year we’ve been running Alpha Racing and we’ll be continuing next year. It’s very exciting for the syndicate members because Cadillac was bought for €40,000 as a yearling at Goffs Orby, so it’s very exciting for them to have a horse that can run in the Breeders’ Cup.

We set up Alpha Racing two years ago with a double view of both racing and trading horses. We want to give the syndicate members lots of action on the racecourse with also a very strong commercial objective of trying to generate a return on investment. It can be a lot of fun owning a racehorse, but in the long term if you’re spending a lot of money it’s important to see some return on investment. We have eight horses in the syndicate and we do take it strongly into consideration that they’re traded at the opportune time-from the first year we’ve traded seven of the eight.

The syndicate members were keen that if we came across a horse that was of the highest order that we’d roll the dice and let him run and that decision was taken with Cadillac. But in general a part of our job, as much as it is to race them and win, is to make it commercially viable and trade them.

While we have been preparing our Breeders’ Cup runners we have also been out shopping for our next stars at the yearling sales. With the bulk of the yearling sales now over for another season, I can say it was a strange year. I feel for Goffs, who suffered having had to move their sales overseas; that made a big difference to them. Tattersalls Book 1 was down and suffered a bit, but then you came along to Tattersalls Book 2 and it defied all the trends, which was great. That was good for the industry and the breeders, but it made it quite hard to buy horses, being on the other end of it.

It is always interesting to see the first progeny of new sires, and a few first-season sires stood out to me. The yearlings by Churchill (Ire) were very good-looking horses, and the Caravaggios looked very speedy; they look like they’ll run. And we saw some very nice yearlings by Almanzor (Fr).

In terms of other young sires, I think Belardo (Ire) has done very well as a first-season sire; he is probably still a bit under the radar. I think another who has done very well this year is Pride Of Dubai (Aus). And of course there is Sea The Moon (Ger), who is the sire of the Niarchos Family’s Alpine Star, with whom we won this year’s G1 Coronation S. Sea The Moon has had a very good year on the racecourse and people are starting to follow up in the sales ring, too.

I am very fortunate to be able to train for some leading owner/breeders, but also supplement those with some stock from the sales for groups like Alpha Racing. For the syndicate, when we’re out at the sales we’re looking for a horse that will run at two. Hopefully they will go on at three, but firstly we want them to run at two. We’re looking for the same things that most people look for: a good-looking, well-balanced horse, and hopefully the mare has produced a winner or it’s the first foal, and by a sire we like. When you get them in from owner/breeders they are as they are, but when you buy them you can pick and choose what you like.

There is plenty to look forward to with the next generation set to arrive in the yard in the months ahead, and in the meantime there is the Breeders’ Cup. I’ll be traveling to Lexington on Tuesday; having three runners in the Breeders’ Cup might never happen again, so I must be there to see it. Although I have been to Keeneland for the sales I have never been there for racing, so I’m greatly looking forward to it. I’m thrilled with all the horses and I think all three go in with an each-way chance.

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Alpine Star Enters Winter Quarters, Will Race On

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 very high-class filly. We’ll put her away now and bring her back for a 4-year-old campaign next season. She’s very consistent and hopefully there’ll be more Group 1 races for her.

“It will be interesting to see what Jessie decides regarding trip next year. She seems equally capable over a mile and a mile and a quarter at the moment, which is very exciting.”

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The Jessica Harrington Column: Breeders’ Cup Is More Than A Race Meeting

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 that there was going to be no Aintree, no Fairyhouse, no Punchestown, no Guineas at the right time.

For a while it looked like we might get back before the end of May, but then that was scuppered, and that was really like having all your toys taken away from you in one go. It felt like you’d been hit in the stomach and it knocked all the wind out of you.

The Flat has been relatively unaffected and it was a particularly good effort by the authorities to ensure that all of Ireland’s Group 1 races will have been run this year, even if not necessarily all in their usual slots. The jumping calendar has obviously been more disrupted, and this week we received the news, disappointing but understandable, that the Boylesports Irish Grand National won’t be run at all this year. Initially it had been postponed from its usual Easter Monday slot to some unspecified point in the autumn, but now it has been cancelled. I can understand that. It’s such a special occasion that it’s much more than a raceday. It’s always been a real social occasion in the Dublin area and, while no race-meeting is the same without crowds, that is one in particular which revolves around the general public. Everyone always has so much fun there. We’ve been lucky enough to win it (courtesy of Our Duke in 2017) but it’s fun however your horse runs and whatever role you attend in. We’ll just have to look forward to going there again, hopefully next year.

When racing did eventually start up again in June it was great to be back, except of course I was told I couldn’t go racing because I was too old. That was a bit annoying at the time but I kind of got used to it. Richie [Galway], my son-in-law, went to England three times, so he effectively had six weeks of isolating here, and then Kate went to York and to Deauville for me, so I’m lucky to have lots of people and family around, and that does make a difference.

At the beginning of July I was finally allowed to go racing again, and that was a great novelty but I have to say that going racing behind closed doors is not a great experience, especially when the weather is bad. Over here, there’s only a smattering of other trainers present but at least now you can get a cup of coffee and a sandwich. For the first few meetings there were absolutely no facilities like that at all. So it’s been different and it’s been challenging, but it has worked. My feeling is that we’ll put up with all these things as long as we can in order to keep racing going. That’s the most important thing for the whole industry–

for the breeding, for the stallions–and not just in Ireland.

When we were in lockdown we were videoing the horses on the gallops, walking round, trotting round, and we kept trying to think of new ways to film the horses for the owners to make sure they weren’t getting the same thing every week. Now we’ve started racing, we do a video of the horse going round the parade ring, then a clip of the jockey before the race saying what he’s going to do, and then we record some more comments when he comes back in, and the owners get a video of the race. So even though they can’t be there to see their race, we are trying to keep the horses’ owners involved as much as possible.

The last few years have been great fun, having fillies, and now hopefully a few colts, who have competed at the top level on the Flat. This year would of course have been much more fun if I could have gone to Ascot or to Deauville or Chantilly, but we will just have to look forward to it next year. The fillies especially have been very good this year.

Alpine Star (Ire) (Sea The Moon {Ger}) is a really tough filly. She won the G1 Coronation S. at Royal Ascot so well and has tried so hard in her two races in France since then. She is very different physically to her half-sister, [four-time Group 1 winner] Alpha Centauri, who was a big strapping filly. This one is rather small, but she just wants to please you. Then we’ve had Cayenne Pepper (Ire) (Australia {GB}), who runs in the G2 Moyglare Blandford S. on Irish Champions Weekend, One Voice (Ire) (Poet’s Voice {GB}), Millisle (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) and Silence Please (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}). They’ve all competed at the top level, and hopefully our G1 Prix Marcel Boussac winner Albigna (Ire) (Zoffany Ire}) is on her way back to doing that as well.

Last year Albigna became our first runner at the Breeders’ Cup and I’m very much hoping to get to Keeneland for the Breeders’ Cup this year. We’ll have to see how difficult, or not, that is. Hopefully we can at least get the horses there and the American owners can see them run. It doesn’t matter if I can’t go. The Niarchos family have always been tremendous supporters of the Breeders’ Cup, and I know Craig Bernick would love One Voice to be there, and we also have Silence Please for Team Valor. We would very much like to be there.

The same could be said about the Breeders’ Cup as the Irish Grand National, in that it’s much more than just a race meeting. Obviously as a race meeting it’s top class, with some of the best horses in the world. But it’s also a great occasion, particularly as in America the sport in general has a lower profile and it doesn’t break through to the wider consciousness that often. The Breeders’ Cup provides a great opportunity for racing in America to do that, and so it too just won’t be the same without crowds. However, it does look like it’s definitely going ahead, which will be a great feat of organisation as, with the overall COVID-19 situation in the States and with the consequent restrictions on travel etc., it’s not going to be easy. We’re lucky enough to have some horses good enough to attend, so God willing we’ll be there.

There are of course plenty of options for those horses here in Europe but we want to keep our options open and hope we can get to America. It’s going to be challenging to get the staff out there and we need to find out what isolating they will have to do once they get out there or when they come home. The staff have been fantastic and anyone who looks after a horse who is good enough to race internationally is very keen to go with them. We’ll do our best to go because it’s good for racing and good for owners, and it’s good for the sport internationally.

It’s the time of year when the National Hunt horses are starting to increase their work again. We don’t have as many jumpers in as usual but Sizing John (GB) (Midnight Legend {GB}) is working away and we are hoping to run him at Listowel–that’s our plan. We are keeping everything crossed and we hardly dare speak about it, but we’d love to get him back.

The Flat and the National Hunt horses all do the same thing really. I train them all muddled up together. The jumpers are great when the yearlings come in and start to be ridden. There’s always a few who go out with the jumpers, and the older horses behave so the yearlings realise there’s no point in jumping around because the other horses don’t jump around, and they learn like that.

We have a couple of very nice horses to look forward to, like Sizing Pottsie (Fr) (Kapgarde {Fr}), who was a good novice chaser from last year and he seems to have come back very strong. And of course we have the evergreen Magic Of Light (Ire) (Flemensfirth), who was runner-up to Tiger Roll (Ire) (Authorized {Ire}) in the Grand National in 2019 and will go for the National again this season. She’ll probably go down her usual route of mares’ hurdles and mares’ chases first. It’s nice for her to do that and to get her confidence up before Aintree.

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