LAST Tuesday, Horse Racing Ireland organised a pre-Galway media day at Jessica Harrington’s Commonstown Stud, nestled in the shadows of the Wicklow mountains.

Jessica has trained over 35 Galway Festival winners throughout the years, and while in the past she was better known for her National Hunt stable stars like Sizing John, Sandymount Duke, or the 1994 Galway Hurdle winner Oh So Grumpy, Jessica has a strong team of flat horses to contest with this season.

However, this transition wasn’t intentional; “I find the injuries to National Hunt horses were hard and they take longer. It just happened that we went this way, I didn’t make any conscious decision about it. It just happened.”

With the Galway Festival just two days away, here’s a look at some of Jessica Harrington’s Galway squad.

Ashdale Bob

He’s going to go for the novice chase at Galway, all being well. He won his beginners’ chase finally last month, but he has plenty of experience because he ran in novice chases a few years ago.

Pigeon House

He won a handicap hurdle at Punchestown, he’s going for a handicap hurdle on the Friday at Galway and he has an entry for the winners’ of one.

Camelot Alexander

If she comes on well now she’ll run in a handicap at Galway. Probably over a mile and one.

Old Sea

He’ll be running in a maiden at Galway. He was given a mark of 71 the other day and will receive an entry in a maiden, and in the three-year-old only handicap over a mile. He was a fast finisher after a bit of time off at Killarney this month, and we’ll see which option looks best closer to the time.

Going Remote

He’s in the mile and a half premier handicap. He won the Ulster Derby the last time, he’s in great form.

Bluedrum

She will be given an entry into the Listed Corrib Stakes over seven furlongs, and we’ll just see what the ground does. She was a very good second in a Group 3 at Leopardstown the other day.

Curvature

She’ll also have an entry in the Listed Corrib Fillies Stakes, but she likes soft ground. She had her comeback run the other day in the Brownstown Stakes, and that run was her first outing since last October, so she should come on for it.

Endless Pursuit

She will go in the mile and a half, four-year-old and upwards maiden. She ran very well in the charity race on Sunday, finishing third.

Yashin

He could easily run in the conditions race as he needs to get back running before he goes to York for the Ebor.

More to mention

Riviera Queen and Realt Na Ri will both have entries in the mile and a half three-year-old fillies’ only maiden. Improvista could head in this direction.

“Most of our two-year-olds will receive entries. Kurrawa is another name to note, and Gloriously Glam will receive an entry in the nursery on the Saturday. Golden Lady and Marazion, who is by Sea The Stars and is a half-sister to Trevaunance, is another one to look out for.”

Of the other two-year-olds that we saw riding out, Loch Tay - who was second, first time out, just beaten - will most likely to go for the seven-furlong colts’ and geldings’ maiden. Starry Desert, a Sea The Moon colt who finished fourth in two outings could be heading for the median auction maiden over a mile.

“IN the old days I used to stay down all week because it used to take us three and a half hours to get from here to Galway. Now, with the roads, I never stay down. It’s two hours up and two hours back. Quite honestly, I like to be back here to see the horses in the morning. It’s a lot easier.”

While she doesn’t indulge in the social side of the Galway Festival so much, her owners certainly do: “They love it, and we managed last year to really write the script. We had a horse for the All About The Girls Syndicate running there called Youcrackmeup, and they decided to make a proper day out of it.

“They went for lunch at Moran’s, then to the races, and then she won. A lot of them stayed that night in Galway, so they had a proper party. I think there were a lot of sore heads the next morning! That’s what it’s all about.”

On the map

Oh So Grumpy is one of Jessica’s most notable Galway Festival winners, winning the Galway Hurdle in 1994 and she describes it as a race that put her on the map. “It was fantastic. You know, when you’re starting off training and you get a high profile winner of a high profile race, it’s fantastic. It kind of puts you on the map.

“He won a handicap hurdle at Limerick one day and I said right there that he’s going to go for the Galway Hurdle, and run in a couple of flat races along the way, and that’s what we did.

“We love Galway. We want to have winners up there but you’ve got to get the right horse to go because Galway is unique. The main thing is that there’s something for everyone. There’s a good chance that an owner will get a horse to Galway in a handicap hurdle or a maiden as well as a high class horse.

“They either act around there or they don’t. If they’ve gone round there once, they might go around there again. Some horses hate it. It all depends on what the ground is going to be, after the rain we got there yesterday I can’t think of it being anything but soft.”

Reality TV

The recent release of Champions: Full Gallop was on topic because, as some people may remember, Jessica was the star of her own horse racing docu-series back in 2001.

“It was called Saddle Soap but it had two names, one over here and another name when it was broadcast in England. They followed me from October through to the end of April, and it was the year of the foot in mouth, and so Cheltenham was off. It was a fairly dramatic year.

“Karen Rogers was the one who came up with this idea. She lived just down the road here, and I knew her well. I trusted her to do a good job, and she did. It’s very good for people to see what actually goes on because people think that we swan around, go racing, and drink champagne. They forget about all of the things that go on the other six days of the week.

“People really need to realize that it’s hard work. It takes an awful lot of people, and I wouldn’t be getting winners if it wasn’t for all of the staff here, they all work very hard, and they’re the real unsung heroes. I’m only the front person.”