I wouldn’t swap him for any other horse in the race

While much of the build-up to the Cheltenham Gold Cup has centred around Irish heavyweights and defending champions, there is a growing sense that Harry Redknapp’s colours could yet crash the party.

Image: Ben Jones, Ben Pauling and Harry Redknapp (left-to-right) with The Jukebox Man | Credit: Megan Dent Photography, The Jockey Club

Harry Redknapp’s unbeaten chaser The Jukebox Man heads into jump racing’s blue-riband event with serious momentum and even stronger belief from the man in the saddle.

“I wouldn’t swap him for any other horse in the race,” jockey Ben Jones declared to Racing TV ahead of the Festival showpiece.

It is not the kind of throwaway confidence often heard in a race of this magnitude. The Gold Cup is brutal, attritional, and rarely forgiving, but The Jukebox Man arrives with a flawless record over fences. 

With four runs and four wins, the latest being the King George at Kempton over Christmas, he is now a genuine top-level operator on the sort of upward curve that gets punters talking.

Jones, who has partnered the horse on each of those victories, clearly feels the bond.

“It’s a bit annoying that it’s on the Friday and I’ll have to wait all week to get my leg up on him, but it’s very, very exciting. He’s never let me down, and I’ve won on him every time I’ve sat on him.”

The Gold Cup is the week’s showpiece, and this year’s renewal adds another gripping chapter. Galopin Des Champs is back in a bid to reclaim the crown he lost to Inothewayurthinkin in 2025, with both stars lining up once again. The pair sit prominently among the favourites, while their reputation is already cemented in the “modern greats” conversation.

But Britain is desperate for a breakthrough. It has been a long wait since Native River carried the home flag to victory in 2018. The drought has lingered, and hopes now rest on a handful of challengers. 

Nicky Henderson’s Jango Baie spearheads the domestic challenge on paper alongside Welsh Grand National winner Haiti Couleurs – yet even the former tasted defeat behind The Jukebox Man at Kempton over Christmas.

Redknapp has rarely been far from a headline. He guided Portsmouth to FA Cup success, managed West Ham and Tottenham for extended periods, and even charmed the nation on I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! – but now he’s daring to dream of landing jump racing’s ultimate prize.

Speaking to Sporting Life at trainer Ben Pauling’s yard, he kept his trademark humility ahead of the Cheltenham Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival, but you can sense the belief.

“It’s a dream to have a horse to run in the Gold Cup and go there with a chance. 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.”

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