Cheltenham Festival 2024: The Case To Back Main Contenders For Top Jockey
The battle to be top jockey at the Cheltenham is always one of the main side attractions every year at the Festival. The table can swiftly change as riders have good and bad days, so while there is an unsurprising name as short priced favourite it can pay to look elsewhere. Here we give a run-down of the potential winners and their respective chances...
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Paul Townend - 1/3 Fav
It will be a huge shock if the BoyleSports favourite PAUL TOWNEND were not to be stood holding the top jockey trophy aloft come Friday evening at Prestbury Park. The man who replaced Ruby Walsh, the winning-most Cheltenham jockey in history with 59 wins, as the top rider at Closutton is set to have another stunning week with chances aplenty to add to his current tally of 28. He should take the mount on Supreme favourite (or Baring Bingham favourite) Ballyburn wherever he runs, while holding a strong hand in the Arkle depending which Mullins chance he chooses.
In the feature on Day 1 he will ride the odds-on State Man, while he also has the odds-on Lossiemouth in the Mares' Hurdle. Later in the week he will be on board another odds-on chance in Facto To File in the Brown Advisory before yet another odds-on favourite runs with Townend in the plate, El Fabiolo in the Champion Chase. He will have the pick of the main contenders in the Albert Bartlett on Friday, before the big race of the week on Friday - the Cheltenham Gold Cup - sees Townend on favourite Galopin Des Champs. That's not all, however, as he has Dinoblue (you guessed it, odds-on) in the Mares' Chase to wrap his week up.
With all these big hitters and some live chances in the handicaps, he deserves his place at the top of the market and after listing all those brilliant chances for glory he has, it is hard to say 1/3 is not actually a decent price!
Jack Kennedy - 11/2
Having missed the 2023 Festival through injury, JACK KENNEDY will be itching to get back with a bang and he has a host of good chances for boss Gordon Elliott. Kennedy will fancy Firefox in the Supreme whether Ballyburn runs or not, while his charge Found A Fifty in the Arkle is no back number. His Tuesday could be brilliant if Salvador Ziggy can stay on stoutly in the National Hunt Chase.
Kennedy may struggle in the four Championship races across the week, although they'll like Gerri Colombe should the rain come on Gold Cup Day, but in handicaps and indeed in the Cross Country he has a good shot at adding to his ten wins. He also will be onboard the favourite Jalon D'Oudairies in the Champion Bumper to wrap up Day Two. On Day Three he has a huge decision to make in the Stayer' Hurdle regarding who to ride, while in a later race that day he is on board the high class Brighterdaysahead in the Mares' Novices' Hurdle.
Jack Kennedy is going to need to have an unbelievable week in the handicaps to have a chance of reeling in Paul Townend one suspects, but he could be the best of the rest.
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Nico De Boinville - 10/1
The chances of NICO DE BOINVILLE scooping this gong suffered a blow on Monday when his best chance of the week - and the best horse in training - Constitution Hill was ruled out of the Champion Hurdle. It is a hammer-blow to racing not to see the star performer take his chance, but few will be as gutted as Nico. His chances of a winner now look less assured, although he does still have classy horses like Jeriko Du Reponet, Jonbon (potentially as they are JP owned after all) and Shannagh Bob to look forward to. It would be a massive shock were Nico to win the top jockey gong and to be frank, 10/1 looks skinny.
Mark Walsh - 12/1
Speaking of JP, his number one rider MARK WALSH will be fancying a good week at the Festival and he has some outstanding rides across the four days. Mystical Power will be well fancied in the Supreme or the Baring Bingham, while Corbetts Cross has a leading chance in the National Hunt Chase last up on Tuesday. Looking across the handicaps there is green and gold everywhere toward the head of the markets (Milan Tino in the Boodles stands out) so Walsh should be able to bag a few winners across those mega competitive affairs. If a market appears for Walsh vs De Boinville, I'd be on the side of the Irishman.
Danny Mullins - 20/1
The darling of the Dublin Racing Festival, DANNY MULLINS will be hoping that lightning can strike twice and he can spring some surprises on board Willie Mullins' second and third stringers in a host of the big races. With the embarrassment of riches on show at Closutton, Danny still has some of the most sought after rides of the whole Cheltenham Festival and as we have seen in the past he is a master at judging races from the front. He could well be on board Flooring Porter once more in a Stayer' Hurdle attempt, in which he would not be one to rule out easily considering he is a two time champion, while Dancing City's owners have said they hope to keep Danny on their charge whatever race he runs in after his success at Leopardstown. It is a stretch to think the Mullins number 2 can beat the number 1, but at 20/1 he is a very interesting outsider.
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Rachael Blackmore
Sadly for RACHAEL BLACKMORE, and some would say for racing, the brilliant string of top class animals with her retained trainer Henry De Bromhead has dried up a tad in recent times. This is in no way a reflection on the trainers' ability to get a good'un firing, merely a sign of the times as A Plus Tard and Honeysuckle have both been retired. Rachael still has a fair few with a lvie chance, including Slade Steel in the Baring Bingham and Minella Indo in the Cross Country, however she will - like all the jockeys in here not named Paul Townend - need to have a remarkable run in the handicaps if she is to get close to adding to her historic Champion Jockey crown she picked up in 2022.
Harry Cobden
Ask almost anyone remotely interesting in British Jump racing and they will tell you HARRY COBDEN is the best in the business on this side of the Irish Sea. Paul Nicholls' number one man can get a tune out of any horse it seems and is a brilliant judge of when to push the button on his mount. Nevertheless, with the dominance of Irish trainers these days it would be an unreal feat were Cobden to have enough rides to even challenge Paul Townend for this gong, nevermind win the thing.
Team Ditcheat are notoriously philosophical about Cheltenham these days, with big horses often saved for Aintree and a better chance at prize money there. Nevertheless, Cobden will be a sought after name in the handicaps and Nicholls does have some good chances, including Stay Away Fay in the Brown Advisory, Ginnys Destiny in the Turners and Teeshan in the Bumper. I'd be surprised to see Cobden come home winless from this year's Festival, but would also be surprised to see him get over three and thus it is hard to fancy him for this.
Patrick Mullins - 33/1
The last jockey listed as a contender in the top jockey market with our friends at BoyleSports is PATRICK MULLINS. It would be some story were a father son duo to scoop the Champion Trainer and Champion Jockey double, but it looks a very far-fetched idea. Patrick is only an amateur rider after all, so despite the fact his mounts will be well fancied in the National Hunt Chase, Kim Muir and the Bumper he will not be riding in many other races and where he is, it'll be on longshots for his father.
Of course, a Willie Mullins longshot is never a total forlorn hope and Patrick will be hoping for a week littered with winners. Ask the man himself though about his chances of being Cheltenham top jockey and the answer would probably be slim to none.