Former jockey Daryl Jacob expects Ireland to once again dominate this year’s Cheltenham Festival.
Irish handlers won 18 of the 27 races across the four days of last year’s blockbuster and even more impressively accounted for 12 of the 14 Grade One winners.
Top trainer Willie Mullins scored eight Grade One successes himself and became the only trainer in history to pass the 100-winner mark at the biggest racing event on these shores.
British Horseracing Authority chief executive Julie Harrington warned Irish dominance was “damaging” for the sport last year.
And Jacob, who retired last season with over 1,000 career winners to his name, hopes England’s Nicky Henderson, Paul Nicholls and Ben Pauling can ruffle the Irish feathers.
Henderson’s stable includes Champion Hurdle favourite Constitution Hill, who missed last year’s Festival with illness, Champion Chase favourite Jonbon and Triumph Hurdle contender Lulamba.
“I do think the Irish will dominate again,” The former Irish National Hunt jockey told SportsBoom.com in an exclusive interview.
“The Irish Grade One form is very strong at the moment.” “A lot of their novices seem to be very good and even their novice hurdlers stepping into the chasing division seem very strong.”
“Nicky Henderson has a number of big bullets to fire in the Champion Chase and the Champion Hurdle. He’s got those big bullets to fire.”
“You can guarantee Nicholls will also be coming here will a strong team as well.” “Ben Pauling’s also got a good couple of horses as well.”
“There are some good horses in England, but the Irish seem to be very dominant at the moment and I can’t see that changing too much.”
CAN ANYONE STOP WILLIE MULLINS?
Mullins is expected to have another strong festival with a number of hugely fancied rides.
Galopin Des Champs, who looks destined to etch his name in racing history by securing a hat-trick of successive Gold Cups, once again leads the charge for Mullins’ stable.
“I think they’ve got to come up to his standard, it’s really that simple,” admitted Jacob, whose final Grade One winner Impaire Et Passe was trained by Mullins.
“He’s setting the standard; he’s at the top of the tree at the moment.”
“The trainers have to try to find the quality of animal that Willie Mullins is sourcing every year.”
DAVID POWERS’ CUP ENTERING FINAL FURLONG
The race for the David Powers’ Cup is hotting up heading into The Festival.
It is a brand-new initiative where jockeys gain points based on where they finish in ITV races with Harry Skelton leading the chase for the £500,000 top prize.
And Jacob added: “The David Power [Jockeys’] Cup is fantastic.”
“I love the way we’re really getting the jockeys and their personalities out there now.”
“It’s a fantastic initiative. The prize money’s great and you can see a lot of the jockeys are really going for it.”
“It’s a huge bonus for every jockey out there. The likes of Harry Skelton, Harry Cobden, Nico de Boinville and Sean Bowen are really going for it aren’t they.”
“I wish it was around when I was still riding, absolutely. Especially when I had that year when we won pretty much 80 per cent of the Grade Ones [2016/17]. That would have been a great year. I’d say I’d have been a very short-priced favourite to win it that year!”
READ MORE: Prestbury Cup Guide – UK Vs Ireland At Cheltenham Festival
