Put your faith in Jack at 10/1 to land Festival top jockey prize
THIS time last year, jockey Paul Townend was as short as 2/5 to be crowned the Cheltenham Festival’s leading jockey only to be beaten to that title by Rachael Blackmore.
He heads the betting for that much coveted crown at 4/5 with Fitzdares again this year having won it back in 2020.
Willie Mullins’ stable jockey has a mouth-watering book of rides that are likely to include Dysart Dynamo, Blue Lord, Appreciate It, Gaelic Warrior, Sir Gerhard, Galopin Des Champs, Allaho and Vauban.
However, I wouldn’t be in a hurry to back him at odds-on because, away from potentially Allaho and Sir Gerhard, his other fancied rides look to have real battles on their hands.
His biggest danger on paper looks to be last year’s most successful rider Rachael Blackmore, who once again has a strong hand to play on paper.
Honeysuckle obviously looks the pick of her chances, with a nice supporting cast including Bob Olinger, Telmesomethinggirl and Journey With Me.
However, beyond that there doesn’t look an awful lot and 4/1 may just be a bit skinny.
A trainer with a huge hand to play at this year’s Festival is Gordon Elliott, and his two jockeys Davy Russell and JACK KENNEDY are next in the betting at 5/1 and 10/1 respectively.
The reason they are much bigger than Townend and Blackmore is that they share the riding workload splitting the fancied rides between them.
That obviously means they are both likely to walk away with three or four winners each rather than one of them hitting that magic six or seven probably needed to secure the crown.
Davy Russell has some quality rides to look forward to over the week including Tiger Roll, Galvin and the pick of Pied Piper and Fil Dor in the Triumph Hurdle.
He looks sure to have a good week, but I just have the feeling that Kennedy is in for a real bumper four days and 10/1 may just underestimate his chances.
On the opening day alone he has Mighty Potter, Riviere D’etel, Death Duty, Zanahiyr, Queens Brook and The Tide Turns, all who hold claims.
The other thing to consider is the potential of picking up spares throughout the week and his already strong team may get even stronger.
Nico de Boinville obviously has the likes of Constitution Hill and Shishkin to look forward to, but there isn’t an obvious supporting cast for him.
De Boinville is only a couple of points bigger than Kennedy at 12/1 and makes limited appeal.
POINTERS
Jack Kennedy Cheltenham Festival Top Jockey 10/1 William Hill