It might be two years since Grand National-winning jockey Daryl Jacob retired from the saddle, but the familiar buzz of the National Hunt season means his enthusiasm for the sport remains as strong as ever.
With an exciting team of horses to follow for owners Simon Munir and Isaac Souede, whom he still works for in an advisory role, Jacob juggles that and riding out along with TV punditry work and the arrival of a new jumps season has lost none of its appeal.
After a summer spent juggling his Racing TV commitments and hospitality engagements, Jacob has been back in the familiar surroundings of National Hunt yards in recent weeks, getting a feel for the horses as they prepare for the months ahead.
“I love this time of the year,” he says. “I’ve been back riding out and it’s been the busiest summer I’ve ever had, but the summer’s over now, the nice horses are coming out and hopefully the ground will ease at some point.
“As a jockey, September was a long month, but it was an exciting month. There wasn’t much racing, the horses had been in since July 1 and they were stepping up and stepping up. You could see them changing shape and getting their top line on them.
“I’ve been sitting on a lot of Simon and Isaac’s horses, and I’ve also been to Alan King’s and Harry Derham’s. Cheltenham opens its doors for the first time this weekend and I can’t wait, I love it.”
The difference now is that Jacob can enjoy the build-up without the pressure of preparing for his next ride. The competitive instinct remains, however, and time spent in the saddle during mornings on the gallops gives him an insight into which horses are thriving.
“It’s a different kind of feeling now I’m not a jockey, but it’s the same sort of buzz,” he explains. “I like to get a feeling from the horses and I’m getting that from riding work. I can see who’s improving.
“I love the jumps season. I just look forward to good National Hunt racing.”
Ground concerns could shape the early weeks
One of the biggest challenges facing the sport in the opening months of the campaign is likely to be the ground, with the prospect of further disruption to steeplechasing a particular concern.
Jacob witnessed the difficulties at first hand when he visited Chepstow ahead of its opening meeting, where the chase programme was subsequently cancelled.
“I went down to Chepstow before the chases were cancelled and walked the track with Tom Scudamore,” Jacob says. “I felt sorry for them. They’d gone above and beyond, started watering as early as they could, and the irrigation they’d done meant it looked really good ground.
“It was a little on the quicker side, but they could do no more and the chases were still taken away from them.”
The cancellation was an unfortunate start to the campaign for the early-season chasers and connections who had been preparing their horses for what is widely thought of as the start of the jumps season proper. Jacob hopes it will prove an isolated problem, but recognises that the issue may not disappear quickly.
“It will be interesting to see if any more high-profile meetings have chases taken off them because of the ground,” he says. “I hope not, but it has to be a possibility.
“We’re looking at smaller fields, and I like the proactive initiatives of having all-chase cards at those tracks where the ground is more suitable. But the first part of the jumps season could look very different from what it has in previous years.”
Exciting winter ahead for Double Green team
Jacob is also looking forward to another busy winter working with owners Munir and Souede, whose investment in National Hunt racing continues across both their racing operation and their expanding bloodstock business.
Jet Bloodstock has become an increasingly important part of that operation, buying point-to-pointers and store horses before allocating them to a network of Irish point-to-point trainers.
“They did very well last year, selling some horses for really good money that are going to nice yards, and they’ve reinvested in that again this year,” Jacob says.
“They buy point-to-pointers and store horses, which then go to seven different point-to-point trainers in Ireland. They’re all horses to be sold, so they won’t run under the Double Green banner. They stay with Jet Bloodstock until they’re sold.
“That’s a big part of the business for them now.”
The racing side is equally encouraging, though, with several established performers and promising newcomers giving the owners plenty to look forward to in the 2026-27 season.
Among the more intriguing prospects is Kilt Ecossais, who has joined Joseph O’Brien’s team from France and could eventually develop into a Grand National contender. Twice a winner at Auteuil, the six-year-old arrives at O'Brien's with a bagful of potential.
Jacob said: "I sat on him a few weeks ago at Joseph’s and he’s a gorgeous, big model of a horse. He does everything so naturally. He could even be one for the Grand National.
“I think he’ll have a rating of around 147 when he comes over here. He had some time off towards the end of last year, but Joseph is very excited about him. I think he’ll probably end up running in those big Leopardstown handicaps and then we’ll see where we are in the spring.”
For all the excitement surrounding the newcomers, it is Le Frimeur who could emerge as one of the flagship performers for the Double Green team this winter.
His victory in the Grade 1 Channor Real Estate Group Novice Hurdle at Punchestown last season confirmed the promise he had shown earlier in the campaign, and Jacob believes a setback along the way may ultimately have helped his development.
“We always thought he was a good horse and he bolted up at Chepstow before he had a little bit of a setback, but I actually think that did him the world of good,” he says.
“By backing off him, he let himself down again and rebuilt himself, winning at Newbury before he won the Grade 1 at Punchestown.
“I still think he needs to step up on that. He was a fresh, fit horse running against horses that had had long, hard seasons. It worked out very well for him and he won comfortably, but the future is bright.”
The plan is to keep Le Frimeur over hurdles, with the Stayers’ Hurdle at Cheltenham the longer-term objective. Although novice chasing was briefly discussed, Jacob believes the hurdling route is the right one at this stage of his career.
“He’ll go to Newbury for the Long Distance Hurdle and then Ascot for the Long Walk, and we’ll know where we are with him.”
The staying hurdle division looks an interesting one, particularly with the possibility of new contenders challenging the established names. Home By The Lee, who is rising 12, has set a high standard, but Jacob sees an opportunity for younger horses to make their mark.
One such contender could be Jasmin De Vaux, who is back in training with Willie Mullins after an injury-enforced absence.
“He’s an absolute bull of a horse and he’s put on some weight,” Jacob says. “It will take a while before he’s out, but he looked promising when he won the Albert Bartlett and he could be another one for the Stayers’.”
Mullins will also be hoping to get Impaire Et Passe back to his best after a disappointing campaign.
Elsewhere, Green Splendour, the Grade 2 Aintree bumper winner from the previous season, is another exciting prospect for Mullins. Jacob is also keeping a close eye on La Note Verte for the same stable, who won at Listowel in September and could make her way across the Irish Sea for valuable black-type opportunities.
“She’s nice and could come over to England a fair bit. She’ll have a good campaign over here,” he says.
There is also unfinished business with Raffles Dolce Vita, who won well at Leopardstown last season. A two-mile chaser who appreciates soft ground, he could still be well treated by the handicapper.
The younger generation is another source of encouragement. Talk The Talk, again trained by Joseph O’Brien, comes into the season after a promising novice hurdle campaign, while Green Style and Green Hint are two names Jacob believes are worth following in Mullins’ novice hurdling team.
“Bar Talk The Talk, we probably lacked a little bit of quality last year and Simon and Isaac wanted to improve that this time around,” he says.
“They’ve bought some nice horses and hopefully they can enjoy their campaigns.”
Can Dan Skelton rewrite the record books?
Jacob is optimistic about the quality of the horses assembled for the Double Green team, but the wider season promises plenty of compelling storylines, too.
Chief among them is Dan Skelton’s pursuit of Martin Pipe’s long-standing record for winners in a season, with the trainer already making a powerful start to the campaign.
“When Dan Skelton gets something into his head, that’s it,” Jacob says. “The blinkers are on, tunnel vision.
“He’s had a wonderful start to the season, he looks well on track and these early months of the jumps season look key to him. He’s ticking off the numbers day by day and the faster ground could play to his strengths, as he’s going to run them.
“He’s got an awful lot of ammunition. I think he’ll do it.”
With the success of Skelton in mind, the balance of power between Britain and Ireland remains one of the sport’s perennial talking points, but Jacob believes the outlook for the British-trained contingent is becoming increasingly encouraging.
He stops short of suggesting that Irish dominance is about to end, yet sees reasons for optimism among British trainers, particularly in the novice ranks.
“I think last year the British had a good time at Cheltenham and Aintree,” he says. “I’m not saying the tide is turning away from the Irish, but the future certainly looks brighter.
“I think the Irish will still dominate, but the British trainers have a nice bunch of novices from last year and I think they’ll be more competitive at the highest level.”
The coming months will reveal whether that promise translates into a sustained challenge, with the major spring festivals once again likely to provide the clearest measure of the respective strengths of the two racing nations.
I Am Maximus can equal Grand National history
Finally, and talking of the spring festivals, no discussion of the season ahead would be complete without looking towards Aintree, where I Am Maximus could have the opportunity to join Red Rum as a three-time Grand National winner.
Jacob believes the possibility of such a historic achievement would be enormous for the sport, particularly given the manner in which the horse has handled the unique demands of the famous steeplechase in his past two victories.
“It’s massive for the sport. A huge story,” he says. “The way he won it last year, he was completely at ease. He looked like he was out in his backyard.
“Things perhaps played to his strengths in the end, with Jordans kicking for home when he did, but it was still an incredible performance.”
Red Rum remains the only horse to have won the Grand National three times, and the prospect of another horse matching that record would capture the imagination well beyond racing's regular audience.
The challenge, of course, is that success comes at a price. A higher handicap mark will make life more difficult for I Am Maximus, but Jacob is reluctant to underestimate a horse whose class has already shone through on the biggest stage.
“The handicapper will make his life harder, but we see class rising to the top year on year and we know Willie Mullins will have him primed.
“It’s very exciting.”
For Jacob, that is ultimately what the return of the jumps season is all about. Whether assessing the next generation of staying hurdlers, following the progress of the Double Green team or contemplating a potential piece of Grand National history, there are no shortage of reasons to look forward to the weeks and months ahead.
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