A look back over those that are really at the peak of their powers at Prestbury Park
In Britain, we are very lucky to have some absolutely brilliant racecourses. The likes of Aintree, Sandown, Newbury, Goodwood, and Ascot are some of the best in the world and host some top-quality racing across both codes, however, there is always one that stands out just that little bit more and that’s Cheltenham.
The Gloucestershire track is of course renowned for hosting the biggest four days of the year, certainly in Jumps racing and perhaps all racing in the UK, and for jockeys, a winner at the meeting as well as any other meeting at Prestbury Park is very special.
Some jockeys have excelled at Cheltenham over the years and here’s a look back on a selection who have made the racecourse their own over the years.
Ruby Walsh
As mentioned, the Cheltenham Festival is the meeting that all Jump jockeys want to ride winners at, and no one has done that more than Ruby Walsh. The Irishman rode a total of 59 winners at the four-day meeting and he won the leading jockey no less than 11 times.
During an incredible career that saw him ride 2,756 winners over 24 years in the saddle, Walsh crossed the finish line first on 157 occasions at Cheltenham. He impressively won each of the main Championship races at the Cheltenham Festival at least twice. Indeed, he won the Stayers’ Hurdle five times, the Champion Hurdle four times, the Queen Mother Champion Chase three times and the Cheltenham Gold Cup twice.
His last Cheltenham Festival winner came courtesy of Klassical Dream, trained by Willie Mullins, in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle in 2019, and he’ll certainly go down as one of the track’s best ever.
AP McCoy
There aren’t many jockey lists these days that don’t include Sir AP McCoy and this one is no different. The 20-time Champion Jockey dominated at pretty much every track he rode at, and Cheltenham was no different with 196 winners there during his illustrious career.
Among that figure of 196 were 31 Cheltenham Festival winners and perhaps is most memorable was Synchronised’s victory in the 2012 Gold Cup, who was guided to score under a superbly timed ride by McCoy.
While that might be the one that meant the most to AP over the years, he’s perhaps better known for his ride aboard Wichita Lineman in 2009 where he somehow managed to roust the Jonjo O’Neill-trained eight-year-old to victory despite being seemingly down and out jumping the final fence. If you haven’t watched it, it’s certainly worth it!
Barry Geraghty
Another man who made Cheltenham his own was Barry Geraghty, who rode 121 winners at Prestbury Park during his brilliant career.
The 42-year-old sits second in the standings for all-time winners at the Festival with 42, five of which came in 2020 – the last Festival he rode in before retiring. While he rode 17 winners fewer than Walsh at the four-day meeting, many regard Geraghty has the man who rode the intricacies of Cheltenham best and several of his winners over the years came via perfectly judged and tactically astute rides.
As mentioned, he bowed in style in 2020 by riding five winners during the Festival and he’s another who’s name will always be associated with Cheltenham.
So, there you have it, that’s our idea of the three most successful jockeys at Cheltenham. It might not be the most original list, but given the standard, all three rode and for the amount of time they did it for, it seems fair enough to say these three are the standard-bearers for any jockey riding at Cheltenham.
