One big gun has fallen silent this week after the news that Constitution Hill will miss the Cheltenham Festival, and any other jumps engagement you can think of, as he gallops off to a new career on the Flat.
In some years that would’ve been a huge blow to British-trained hopes at the Cheltenham Festival, but this year has a different feel to it.
Nicky Henderson can still call upon the likes of Old Park Star, Lulamba, Act Of Innocence, Impose Toi and Jango Baie, while Paul Nicholls has a smaller but select team headed by No Drama This End and Regent’s Stroll.
Dan Skelton has built a new ‘best-ever’ Festival squad complete with chances in each of the championship races and four favourites in the handicaps, so all is not lost despite the former poster boy now all set for life in the other code.
And while few horses have the headline-grabbing power of Constitution Hill, there is another British-trained runner that has the potential to get horse racing on the front pages for all the right reasons come March 13.
Harry Redknapp’s The Jukebox Man.
For Redknapp, the wheeler dealer football manager who won a European trophy with West Ham and an FA Cup with Portsmouth, is one of the most likeable men in the game.
And while he won’t be drawn on what it would be like to win a Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup compared to a huge game of football – or a popularity contest in an Australian jungle against the likes of Noel Edmonds and Nick Knowles for that matter – there’s no doubt that his horse winning the best race in jumps racing would see the sport hit the headlines in a big way.
“It's a dream to have a horse to run in the Gold Cup and go there with a chance,” says Redknapp, at trainer Ben Pauling’s yard on a bright and sunny February morning, a few weeks out from Gold Cup day.
“I'm not saying we're going to win it, but we've got a serious horse. It's an open race and I think we've got as good a chance as anything."
Which is great. And true.
The Jukebox Man is unbeaten over fences, four from four, his King George victory at Kempton over Christmas catapulting him into the big league. Behind him that day were Jango Baie as well as Irish monsters Banbridge, Gaelic Warrior and Fact To File, so the form is there and he’s got the style to match.
Jockey Ben Jones, having a stellar season in the saddle, can’t hide his excitement.
He says: “The Jukebox Man is a grade above everything else, he’s the best horse I’ve ever sat on and he’s done things for my career that I’ll never be able to repay him for.
“We’re dreaming about the Gold Cup. But we’re thinking about different things, we’ve got a lot of other horses to be riding and we’ll keep ourselves busy until we have to think about it."
But what are the assets that give The Jukebox Man such a good chance in a Gold Cup?
“His jumping, his technique, the way he goes through his races. He’s not slow, but he stays, I think he’s got all the attributes for a Gold Cup," says Jones.
“I’ve never even ridden in a Gold Cup so I can’t say he’s definitely going to go and do the business, but the feeling he gives me, what people who have been in Gold Cups are saying, I wouldn’t want to be swapping him.”
Neither would Harry.
“I've had an awful lot of horses, still got an awful lot, but this one has taken us to places that you only dream about as a racehorse owner,” Redknapp says. “He's my dream, he's not for sale and he wouldn't be for sale at any price.
“It would be great, but Ben does all the work, the jockey and the horse. I’m just lucky enough to own him. I’m not out there working with him or training him or talking to him in the dressing room. I’m in their hands, they know what they are doing. I’m living the dream, absolutely. I love it, I can’t wait for Cheltenham.
“I’ve not had a bet yet, I’ll be talking to Ben to get a few tips and I’ll be having a few yankees!
“I’m quite relaxed about it all but I do go up there dreaming about him winning, thinking of the scenarios coming to the last."
While Redknapp has already tasted Festival success with Pauling thanks to Shakem Up’arry, his first involvement in the sport came way back when he was manager of Bournemouth in the 1980s.
He explained: “I started off with my first syndicate when I was manager of Bournemouth. We bought a horse called Slick Cherry because Bournemouth are The Cherries. I think there was seven of us in it.
“I think we gave £6,000 for it and we all chipped in with David Elsworth. They were great days. ‘Elsie’ got a couple of wins out of it. I've always been interested in racing from eight years of age. My nan was a bookies’ runner in the East End of London. She wouldn’t believe it (Harry owning a Gold Cup chance).
“I went to West Ham as a player at 15 and it was full of punters – they all loved a bet and in the dressing room The Sporting Life would be there. We had a lot of incredible players there who loved their racing.
“We had a player called Budgie Byrne, Johnny Byrne, he was a genius of a footballer, but Budgie’s warm-up on a Friday, I can see him now, he’d be out there with his tracksuit on, reading The Sporting Life with a mug of tea and that was his warm-up on a Friday.
“Then on Saturday he’d bang in a couple of goals!
“The great Alan Ball would want to know the racing results at half time, the players would find out the Grand National result from the side of the pitch. It was different in those days.”
Also different, for Harry at least, is the interest in The Jukebox Man ever since he landed the King George.
He says: “People ask me about The Jukebox Man more than football! I've been to those theatres for Q&As and they all come up to me afterwards.
“They've not actually come to see me, they've just come to ask me about The Jukebox Man!
“He’s caught a lot of imagination, when I go to the newsagents in the morning people are asking me ‘what about The Jukebox Man?’ they all seem to know him, it’s amazing.”
A Gold Cup win would see The Jukebox Man’s fame grow even further. Exciting for racing – and for the trainer, too.
“Having a horse of his calibre in the form, touch wood, that he seems to be in at the moment going into the Gold Cup, is an exceptionally exciting thing for me,” says Pauling.
“But to be doing it with a man like Harry, who not only is a bit of a national treasure, but someone I’ve had a great relationship with for the last seven or eight years now.
“We are very fortunate that the attention is there because Harry is a competitor. He loves the sport. He's not fly by night – he's been in it for far too long. It's attention for all the right reasons and hopefully that can be nothing but good for racing.”
It’s hard not to root for Redknapp’s Gold Cup chance. And with the poster boy mantle recently vacated, perhaps The Jukebox Man can become the new king of the jungle.
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