Jessica Harrington has been training big-race winners for 20 years but producing Jezki to dethrone Hurricane Fly in yesterday’s Punchestown Festival highlight only emphasised how time is no friend when it comes to horses.
Hurricane Fly’s legendary status is assured not just by a world record tally of 19 Grade One wins but the style in which they were achieved. Yet not once did he look like securing a fifth successive victory in yesterday’s Racing Post Champion Hurdle: instead the horse that relieved him of his Cheltenham title did the same on home turf, and with an authority that allowed no argument.
That some bookmakers weren’t even offering prices about ‘the Fly’ regaining that Cheltenham crown was a stark reminder of time moving on and even though retirement isn’t being considered for the ten year old there is an undeniable sense of that famous pomp being a thing of the past.
Instead a pair of his stable companions half his age have usurped him in 2015 Champion Hurdle betting but both Faugheen and yesterday’s other Grade One winner Vautour will have a title-holder to cope with whose career curve still looks to be resolutely upward.
Tony McCoy overlooked Jezki at Cheltenham in March but the Harrington star sealed his championship status here, dominating his two opponents from the front, and although Ruby Walsh got Hurricane Fly into a challenging position at the last, the 4/5 favourite always looked in control.
'According to plan'
"Everything had gone according to plan since Cheltenham and he was very fresh," said Harrington who completed a hat-trick for a second day running, at odds of 186/1, to briefly put her ahead of Willie Mullins in the festival's leading trainer table. "I was shouting yesterday, and today – by tomorrow I'm not going to have a voice!"
The Galway Plate hopefuls Burn And Turn and Operating had won earlier and McCoy pointed to the passing of Harrington’s husband, Johnny, a few weeks ago before saying: “This is very poignant and special for her and she has performed miracles in the last two weeks to get these horses to perform better than they have all year.”
Jezki will attempt to defend his crown next season and will do so for a trainer who owner JP McManus stressed “has stood the test of time”. Hurricane Fly has done the same for half a decade but Willie Mullins was never happy with how he was going yesterday and significantly didn’t appear overly deflated by this defeat.
“Tony McCoy always looked happy and Ruby didn’t. And Jessie’s horses are flying so no excuses. He’ll go out to grass and hopefully be back next season,” he said.
"Jezki's on the way up and maybe we're not."
Been naive
With hindsight anyone expecting a repeat of Vautour's Cheltenham rout in the Tattersalls Champion Novice Hurdle may have been naive but rarely has a Grade One victory felt as anti-climactic as yesterday's. For a brief moment before the last Apache Stronghold looked a real danger and Mullins played a straight-bat to suggestions Vautour may be a top hurdler of the future, although he did point to the horse's slight hold-up earlier in the week.
“He wasn’t 100 per cent and had a few easy days, so maybe everything took its toll. Maybe the spectacular run also left a mark.
“Ruby said he felt a bit ‘feely’ too. So we have a lot of thinking to do about what goes in what division.
“He actually looks like an Arkle horse,” the trainer said of owner Rich Ricci’s ninth Grade One of the season.
Mullins reached seven winners for the week, passing Harrington, with a hat-trick of his own. The odds-on Arctic Fire landed a novice hurdle and Morning Run also justified favouritism in the mares bumper.
