JUMPING FOR JOY
Jessie on top of the world after Alpha romps home
TRAINER Jessie Harrington, the queen of the Cheltenham and Punchestown festivals, extended her reign to Royal ascot as alpha Centauri stormed to a six-length win in the Coronation stakes.
Harrington, who is assisted by daughters Emma and Kate, said: ‘The Flat is business but the jumps is pleasure. I’m relieved more than anything. I was very nervous today. I know alpha Centauri is very good.
‘any winner is a great winner. To have a Group One winner on the Flat or a Grade One winner over jumps, the feeling is the same, it’s fantastic.’
On paper, yesterday’s feature race looked the hardest to crack. It included French 1,000 Guineas winner Teppal and English 1,000 Guineas heroine Billesdon Brook.
But they finished fourth and ninth respectively as the Irish 1,000 Guineas winner, ridden by Colm O’Donoghue, blew them away and left scorch marks on the turf to land the £240,000 prize in a course record time, with Threading in second and Veracious third.
The success of the 11-4 favourite means 71-year- old Harrington is the alpha female of the training ranks.
all the big Cheltenham prizes have gone her way: the 2017 Gold Cup with sizing John; 2003 and 2005 Champion Chases with Moscow Flyer and the 2014 Champion Hurdle with Jezki. she has trained 11 winners at the meeting, more than any other woman.
You can also throw in an Irish Grand National thanks to Our Duke last year.
all the Harrington runners this week, including Thursday’s Gold Cup third Torcedor, have been stabled at the Lambourn base of her friend, champion jumps trainer Nicky Henderson. with her 130horse string split 50- 50 between Flat and jumps, Harrington is now a serious trainer in both.
‘It was rather nice going into the Irish Guineas, we were very much under the radar but today we were the favourite and there to be shot at,’ she added.
‘Colm was very confident on her and she started quick and settled great. He thought he had gone quite soon but the further she went the better she went.’
The win came 12 months to the day since alpha Centauri was a beaten favourite in the albany stakes.
That blunted the filly’s huge reputation and the reason she had been allowed to start at 12-1 for the Irish Guineas was because she had subsequently been beaten twice on heavy ground.
alpha Centauri’s win was the third in the race for her owners, the Niarchos family. They sponsor the Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville in august and that seems a likely target now.