Soccer

Who are the best jockeys at the 2022 Cheltenham Festival?

They grab the headlines, kiss their horses, punch the Prestbury Park air and etch their names into history. Planet Sport’s Jonathan Doidge looks at the Cheltenham Festival jockeys to follow.

It's not just about being on the best horse. Cheltenham Festival races require so much more from a jockey.

The ability to withstand the pressure of expectations and make good decisions in a split second, to bring home that banker with the minimum of fuss, a la Ruby Walsh.
It's about planning your ride and then planning it again for each and every eventuality.
It's about walking the track, finding the best racing line and the better ground.
It's about anticipating who'll set the pace, then having that clock in your head. They've gone off too quick, you'll settle off the pace. They've gone off to slowly, you'll set the pace.
It's about getting your horse into a jumping rhythm, it's about seizing your opportunity to grab glory when it presents itself.
It's about giving your horse every bit as much assistance as you want in return from the thoroughbred itself.
And sometimes, it's about lifting your horse over the line with a monumental ride that few others are capable of producing. Remember Sir Anthony McCoy on Witchita Lineman? Adrian Maguire on Viking Flagship?
So who are the men and women of the saddle who you should follow at the 2022 Cheltenham Festival?

Paul Townend

It goes without saying that most of these will be the regular riders for the trainers expected to do best and the Willie Mullins/Paul Townend combination heads that list.

Townend had to wait in the wings for a long time as second jockey to the incomparable Ruby Walsh at the Closutton yard. He rode his first Festival winner in 2011.

It's no surprise then that, post-Ruby's retirement, he has been firing in the winners, given such strong ammunition to sit on. Now with 18 successes to his name, that number can only grow and grow, given that the 31-year-old has plenty of years left in the saddle.

Biggest Cheltenham winner: Al Boum Photo (Gold Cup - 2019 and 2020)

Davy Russell

It is staggering to think that Russell rode his first Festival winner as long ago as 2006, when Native Jack won the Cross Country Chase.

Since then he has only left Prestbury Park empty-handed on two occasions, in 2019 and 2021.

The 42-year-old has now ridden 25 winners at racing's 'Olympics'.

Biggest Cheltenham winner: Lord Windermere (Gold Cup 2014)

Rachael Blackmore

What a three years at Cheltenham it has been for the 32-year-old from County Tipperary.
Her first Festival winner came in 2019 on A Plus Tard, going on to land her first Grade 1 at the meeting, when Minella Indo landed the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle in the same year.

The 2020 Cheltenham Festival saw her partner Honeysuckle to success in the Mares' Hurdle, and the partnership then stepped up to win the 2021 Champion Hurdle, making Blackmore the first female jockey to win hurdling's blue riband.

In all, she rode an incredible six winners at the 2021 Festival, becoming the first woman to win the Ruby Walsh Trophy for being the leading jockey at the meeting.
Following all of that, we cannot fail to mention her outstanding achievement of being the first woman to ride the winner of the Grand National, when she partnered Minella Times to success last April.
She could again be set to provide us with one of the great moments of the 2022 Festival, when back on board the unbeaten Honeysuckle, in defence of their Champion Hurdle crown.
Any win for Blackmore at the 2022 Cheltenham Festival would put her total into double figures and she'd be the first woman to achieve that feat.

Biggest Cheltenham winner: Honeysuckle (Champion Hurdle 2021)

Nico De Boinville

Being stable jockey to Nicky Henderson will always present winning opportunities at the Cheltenham Festival and that has very much been the case where De Boinville is concerned.
The 32-year-old had barely received his professional rider's licence when he won the Cheltenham Gold Cup on the novice Coneygree, for trainer Mark Bradstock, in 2015. What a way to begin your Cheltenham Festival journey!
Since then he has added 12 more winners, including some of the greats to have graced the famous track.
Interestingly, De Boinville has ridden just two handicap winners from that number, both in the Coral Cup (Whisper, 2014; William Henry, 2019).
Every other win to his name at the Cheltenham Festival has been in a Grade 1 race. Most notably, he partnered Sprinter Sacre (2016) and Altior (2018, 2019) to win the Queen Mother Champion Chase.

Biggest Cheltenham winner: Coneygree (Gold Cup 2015)

Jack Kennedy

County Kerry-born Jack Kennedy was an instant Cheltenham Festival hit, riding his first winner at the tender age of just 17, on Labaik in the 2017 Supreme Novices' Hurdle.
A former pupil of the legendary Tommy Stack, Kennedy had moved to Gordon Elliott before riding his first winner in May, 2015.
Three years later, he was adding to that Labaik success, riding four winners at the 2018 meeting. Having drawn a blank in 2019, he missed the 2020 Festival due to injury. However, he stamped his class on Cheltenham week once again in 2021, when again he rode four winners.
The pinnacle of his achievements in the saddle was when partnering 2021 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Minella Indo to victory for trainer Henry de Bromhead.
He also partnered Galvin, one of the 2022 Cheltenham Gold Cup leading fancies, to success in the 2021 National Hunt Chase.

Biggest Cheltenham winner: Minella Indo (Gold Cup 2021)

Tom Scudamore

From one of the most famous families in horse racing, Tom Scudamore probably never thought of any other career.

Grandad Michael won the 1959 Grand National on Oxo, and while father Peter could not emulate that, he pushed back the boundaries of what was possible in terms of winners in the saddle, and was an eight-time champion National Hunt jockey. Brother Michael is also a trainer.

Tom, who will be 40 in May 2022, has won 10 Cheltenham Festival races, four of them in Grade 1 races. The best horse he has ridden to victory was undoubtedly Thistlecrack, on whom he won the 2016 Stayers' Hurdle.
However, in terms of prestige, his 2014 Ryanair Chase win on Dynaste perhaps shades it.
Like his Dad, 'Scu' rides predominantly for a Pipe, though in his case for David Pipe, whose father Martin saddled so many winners ridden by Peter Scudamore.
Therefore, it should come as no surprise that Tom Scudamore has more wins in Cheltenham Festival Handicaps than in graded races. In total he has ridden six handicap winners at the meeting.
Look out for whatever he rides in the Festival Handicap Chase. He's ridden the winner of this race three times (2008, 2016 and 2017).

Biggest Cheltenham winner: Dynaste (Ryanair Chase 2014)

Mr Jamie Codd

Unique in this list is Jamie Codd, for he is the only amateur jockey contained within.

Amateurs are denoted by carrying a prefix to their name, such as Mr or Miss. However, despite that status, Codd is regularly hailed as being as good as the professionals.

In the amateur version of jump racing, point-to-pointing, Codd has been the second-most successful rider ever. He retired from that sphere in 2021, with an astonishing 972 winners to his name.

In the professional sport, he has ridden over 300 winners, with 10 of those coming at the Cheltenham Festival.

It is worth noting that, not every race at the meeting can be contested by professional jockeys, and this man is much sought after in the amateur races, while also getting rides against the pros too.

Codd's association with the Gordon Elliott-trained Cause Of Causes has proved particularly fruitful at Cheltenham. The partnership was successful in three successive years and three different races.

Together, they won the 2015 running of the National Hunt Challenge Cup; the 2016 Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup; and the 2017 Cross Country Chase.
He has also won the Champion Bumper twice (Fayonagh, 2017; Envoi Allen, 2019) and two other National Hunt Challenge Cups (Le Breuil, 2019; Ravenhill, 2020).
However, if there was one race to pick out where he is the man to follow, it would be the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup. Codd has won this amateur riders' race on no less than four occasions.

Biggest Cheltenham winner: Fayonagh (Champion Bumper 2017); Envoi Allen (Champion Bumper 2019)

Harry Skelton

Much like brother Dan, here is a man for the future. Skelton has ridden three of those winners trained by his brother to win, plus 2019 Queen Mother Champion Chase scorer Politologue, for Paul Nicholls.

His tally of four is clearly a Cheltenham Festival career in its infancy, but expect to see many more before he hangs up his saddle.
A superb horseman, fabulous judge of pace and a real giver of confidence to his mounts as they approach their obstacles, whatever Dan achieves, Harry will be along for the ride.
He'll also surely pick up more Festival winners for other yards in years to come.

Biggest Cheltenham winner: Politologue (Champion Chase 2019)

More Articles