JESSICA Harrington has an abundance of talent to go to war with in the fillies’ classics next summer but Alpine Star could be the forgotten one in the squad.

But for a late setback, she was the chosen one to take on the Marcel Boussac on Arc day, which her stablemate Albigna subsequently moved in to take impressively and gather all the superlatives. Before that Alpine Star won the Group 2 Debutante Stakes on just her third start, showing a really good attitude to fight off Petite Mustique, with the Moyglare one-three (Love and So Wonderful) in behind. She is a half sister to Alpha Centauri, and intriguingly holds a rating which is just 2lbs lower than that filly had after her two-year-old season.

Alpine Star \Healy Racing

COEUR Sublime had a hefty reputation this time last year but although making a winning start to his hurdles career for Gordon Elliott, he never really lived up to the hype thereafter, despite the fact he ran very well to finish second to Pentland Hills in the Triumph Hurdle. This season, he already looks a different horse, having bolted up on his comeback run at Down Royal. The penny may well have dropped and, in fairness, Gordon’s team have always kept the faith. He gives the impression a strongly-run two miles could be exactly what he needs and with that in mind, the Champion Hurdle, which continues to look wide open this season, could well suit.

Coeur Sublime \Healy Racing

JACK Davison trained five winners in Ireland this year but it has been in defeat the trainer has made a name for himself.

Fresnel gave him a 40/1 maiden success at Dundalk in February and although she didn’t win again, she showcased her young trainer’s talents on some of the biggest stages this summer, running with real credit at Royal Ascot and York. Black Magic Woman was Davison’s first ever winner last year and she came within a neck of giving him a winner on Irish Champions Weekend in the Sovereign Path Handicap.

The Godolphin Flying Start graduate was only serving his second year as a trainer and has already shown he can ready a horse for the big day.

Jack Davison \Healy Racing

RARELY has an apprentice jockey attracted as much attention as Dylan Browne McMonagle, whose undergrad consists of 218 pony racing winners, a Dingle Derby win at the age of just 12 and an All Ireland Boys Boxing championship title. The 16-year-old rode his first winner on Jumellea at Navan late in September and has already ridden out his 10lb claim with four winners from 31 starts. Based with Joseph O’Brien, he will get plenty of opportunities but it would be no surprise if he was used sparingly until next summer when he will be very good value for a 7lb claim, right in the pit of the turf season.

Dylan Brown McMonagle \Healy Racing

ROSS O’Sullivan has already trained his highest number of winners for a National Hunt season and we’re not even into the busy Christmas period.

Having gained plenty of exposure through the admirable Baie Des Iles last year, O’Sullivan has built on that momentum, recording seven wins from 56 runs so far this jumps season, which equates to a relatively healthy 13% strike rate.

The Curragh-based trainer has particularly caught the eye with his handling of the likes of Theatre World, Bythesametoken and most recently An Fraoch Mor who have all won in recent weeks at Navan, a difficult place to win at this time of year. 2020 could be the year he elevates himself to the next level.

Ross O'Sullivan \carolinenorris.ie

SINCE the turn of the new National Hunt season, Conor McNamara’s career has really taken off with 17 winners in Ireland. He sits fourth in the conditional jockeys’ table and in a way he is a bit unlucky to have come through in such a good generation, with Darragh O’Keeffe and Kevin Brouder having put up serious numbers already this season, but in another way, McNamara can rely on his claim for a little longer, allowing a more gradual development, which could be significant in the long run. Most of McNamara’s winners have come for the ever progressive Gavin Cromwell and the Meath trainer provided him with his first double at Clonmel in September. McNamara is a son of trainer Eric and brother to flat jockey Emmett, and he looks set to live up to the high standard of achievement his family have set.

Conor McNamara \Healy Racing

IT goes without saying that next year is a big year for the Curragh. We said that this time last year and it hasn’t exactly gone to plan, but the ship was steadied by Pat Keogh following the departing of Derek McGrath this summer and there are more positive signs now. Over 10,000 attended the Curragh’s leg of Irish Champions Weekend where Pat Smullen’s charity race created a feel-good factor that was missing. Free entry into the Curragh’s final fixture of the season also went down well and Keogh has already made changes, including a re-adjustment of public privileges in the stand which involved the renaming of a bar to the Lilywhites’ Lounge. The proof is in the pudding of course and the Irish Derby Festival, back to three days next year, will tell a lot.

Curragh racecourse \carolinenorris.ie

TIM Husbands as set to take up the role of chief executive at Leopardstown next month, replacing Pat Keogh. Husbands has an excellent background in event management and tourism, having played a big role in the development of Titanic Belfast, which became Northern Ireland’s biggest single capital investment in tourism during his tenure.

Can he increase the attendances at Leopardstown? In particular at the Dublin Racing Festival and Irish Champions Weekend fixture. Attendances were down slightly for those three days this year. There is also a new weighroom building set to open at the course in March and it will be interesting to see if Husbands’s team can build on the already very good Thursday night programme.

Tim Husbands \carolinenorris.ie

IT’S very likely we will have a general election in the coming months and who knows if the next Government will be as supportive of racing and breeding as previous regimes?

We are in changing times and everyone who makes a living from agriculture is being painted as public enemy number one. The make-up of the next Government and the appointment of the next Minister for Agriculture is probably the single most important event that will shape Irish racing in 2020 and beyond.