Sprewell© Photo Healy Racing
Jessica Harrington is hoping Sprewell can turn the tables on Auguste Rodin in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at the Curragh.
The in-form trainer hosted a press morning on Tuesday ahead of the classic and all eyes were on her Epsom fourth.
Harrington admits the son of Churchill will face a difficult task when trying to reverse form with Aidan O'Brien's Derby winner on Sunday but heads to the Curragh in a positive frame of mind.
“I'm very happy with his preparation. He came out of Epsom very well and we've just slowly built him up,” said Harrington this morning.
“He's a very laid back character and it's quite easy to keep the preparation going.
“We'll know what's left in the race today but Auguste Rodin is going to be very difficult to beat.
“He's proved himself to be an exceptional horse, to come back from what was a disaster really in the English 2,000 Guineas.
“It was a great training feat for Aidan to get him back and to win so easily, as he did in Epsom.
“He's got to go out and do it again but I'm presuming he'll be in good order. He's got it on the board and he beat us a fair way.
“You're always hoping. You don't go into those races thinking 'I'll be grand being second'. I want to go in there thinking 'I'll be grand if I can win'.
“He was unlucky at Epsom, he was in the right position at the right time but three fancied horses in front of him stopped dead for various reasons. He just got brought back and had nowhere to go.
“There are always bad luck stories at Epsom but you've got to get over it and get on with the next race.
“He's got a great attitude and if you've got an attitude like that it does help.
“He handled the ground great then, everyone said 'he's only a soft ground horse' but it wasn't the fact that I wanted to run him on soft ground, it just happened that the races came up.
“He was a backward two-year-old last year and by the time he went to run in Gowran the ground had gone. He ran again in Naas and it was soft so he never actually got a chance to run on good ground.”
When asked if she thought the Curragh would suit him better the Moone handler added:- “I'm hoping it will. He hasn't run there but he's gone both ways around so I don't think that's going to be a problem. He's been left-handed three times now and also right-handed at Gowran.
“It looks like it's going to be lovely ground, perfect good ground which will be ideal — no extremes in any direction.”
Jockey plans are still up in the air with Shane Foley currently on the sidelines with a broken collarbone and he has a crucial appointment with a specialist this morning:-
“I won't know whether Shane is on or off until he's been to see Paddy Kenny this morning.
“We have done nothing about Plan B at the moment, there is plenty of time and I think a few fellas might like to ride him!
“I hope Shane does get back but I just don't know. He's been riding brilliantly and I think having his hip done has really helped him as he's no longer in pain. I think it's made all the difference to him.
“He did a lot of preparation because he was laid up with the hip, including going cold water swimming. He was doing crazy things like going into the (River) Barrow in February and March.”
Harrington reported herself in fine fettle having come through treatment for breast cancer in recent months and has her sights set firmly on the future and achievements yet to come:-
“We've got through it all and I'm feeling great now, really good. I think I'm nearly back to normal because I've got my energy back now.
“I'm lucky I've got through it all and that's the main thing. I'm only looking forward, not back. Keep looking forward to what you are going to do and don't be looking back.
“It's very easy to look back and get negative so you want to keep looking forward.
“What motivates me is that I like succeeding, I like winning, doing well and I like to get better at what I do.
“Having had the cancer I'm probably more focused now and wanting to do things. In a way it raised the question that you could get ill and then the answer was that I'm going to beat this. That makes you want more because that keeps you going.
“I hoped that if I talked about it other people would too, instead of pushing it under the carpet and going about their treatment with their heads down.
“My attitude was to go about the treatment, and that I'm going to beat this.
“There are an awful lot of things left on my list to achieve. The Irish Derby is definitely one of them, that's on the bucket list as it were.
“There are loads of international races I'd like to win and I'd like to win more races in Ireland, you always want to win more. When you get so far you like to keep your standards up.”
