Jessica Harrington opens up about cancer battle

Leading horse racing trainer Jessica Harrington has spoken about the impact of her on-going cancer treatment, in her first media interview on the topic since her diagnosis.

Ireland's most successful woman trainer was diagnosed with breast cancer in October.

The Cheltenham Gold Cup-winner told Katie Hannon on Upfront: The Podcast that her first reaction to hearing she had cancer was that she was "too old" to receive such a diagnosis.

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"I survived my 75 years without having cancer. And once you get over 65, you come off the list for automatic pap smear tests and mammograms. You're considered too old to get it. Unfortunately, I wasn’t."

"I definitely did a bit of crying," she said, speaking from her stables in Kildare.

Harrington, who has saddled seven winners at the Cheltenham festival, has been undergoing chemotherapy treatment in recent months and won’t be in attendance at next week’s showpiece.

"I haven't been racing because I don't want to be mixing with a lot of people because of getting infections. I did 12 weeks having treatment every week, and I have got two more to go. I see the light at the end of the tunnel and it's absolutely fantastic.

"Everything's gone so-far-so-good. We've a few more things to be done. I've got to have an operation and then probably have some radiotherapy. So, you know, we’ve still got a bit more to do, but at least I might get some hair back."

While she has experienced some difficulties during her recovery, Harrington has been determined to