Kate Harrington revealed her mother Jessica Harrington knew Alpha Centauri was something special after a training run at the Curragh.
The filly has enjoyed an outstanding season with her latest triumph coming in the Prix Jaques le Marois at Deauville last Sunday.
Kate, an amateur jockey and assistant trainer to Jessica, shared her story of riding Alpha Centauri and capturing the attention of rivals as well as her mother’s eye.
“I think we knew she was special the first day we went to the Curragh,” Kate Harrington told OTB on Friday Night Racing.
“I think about 10 two-year-olds went over and I had nominated myself for Alpha because she was bomb-proof. That is what makes her so good.
“I remember we were going down the very open space of the Curragh in the week before Cheltenham and there were two-year-olds going everywhere.
“And Shane Foley turned around and asked me: ‘What weight is that three-year-old? She is absolutely huge.’
“And I went: ‘No, no, this is a two-year-old.’
“And he goes: ‘She must be no good. She’s going down here like an old hunter.’
“But she was just leading them away. I would be a bit heavier than the flat jockeys but when I got to the furlong pole, I left them for dead. That day I was over Walsh’s Hill before I got her pulled up.
“And Mum actually had to drive up and help me because she thought something had happened since everyone else had pulled up and I was nowhere to be seen.
“I came back up and said: ‘She’s good.’ But Mum said she knew from that day she was something serious.”
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James Hopper
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