THE David Power Jockeys’ Cup has certainly made the headlines its creators would have wanted, but the £1.5m initiative has been beset with some of the most bizarre moaning I’ve witnessed with such initiatives.
I won’t dwell on the Racehorse Owners Association response, other than to say that they seem to have lost the plot entirely, but the general gripe that this money is just going to go to the sport’s most successful participants made me snort.
An initiative designed to reward excellence and create a competitive edge between the participants? Who could have dreamed of something so dastardly?
It must be reiterated that the eye-watering prize fund is completely fresh money, which simply wasn’t there 10 days ago. There is no robbing of Peter to pay Paul in this scenario and, while owners aren’t specifically rewarded, there is no loss of potential prize money for the high-grade horses who will largely figure in ITV races.
The other reason why owners aren’t catered for, and why initiatives that seek to reward owners over jockeys do not appeal to the general public, is that the public do not, and never will, root for owners in the way they do horses and – to a slightly lesser extent – jockeys.
It’s the equine and human participants who give racing its appeal and it’s absolutely the right thing to do to put the jockeys in the spotlight, if such an initiative is going to work in terms of public engagement.
The Jockey Club tried to make it about horses and owners with their Order Of Merit a couple of decades ago and, while it made a star out of the Steve Gollings-trained Royal Shakespeare, I doubt whether anyone will remember who owned that horse. Apologies to John Webb (I had to look that up), but that’s the way it is.
Change the landscape
Unlike most schemes with a similar aim, the David Power Jockeys’ Cup has the capacity to change the landscape for racing’s participants.
Every jockey dreams of winning the Grand National, not just for the place in history, but for the cash jackpot that goes with it, so a first prize that is the equivalent of winning 10 Grand Nationals - my thanks to Ruby Walsh for that stark analogy - has to be an absolute game changer for the jockey who tops the standings.
Don’t think for a second this means that jockeys will merely hope that lady luck will shine on them in the coming months. For half a million quid, they will beg, borrow or outright steal horses to ride in those ITV races, and they won’t care about ruffling feathers in doing so.
If that sounds like a scenario that might shatter the peace and goodwill of the weighing room, then I’m all for it and, while not wishing for any fisticuffs in the inner sanctum, I think a bit more ruthlessness is needed in the modern game.
Sometimes, racing feels a little too cosy, with everyone keen to remind us that jockeys see their colleagues more like family than competitors, but sport, like nature, should sometimes be “red in tooth and claw”.
Jump racing has also tended in recent times to shift back to old north/south separatism and, while the most powerful yards are often able to plunder the big prizes in the north, the same rarely happens at Ascot, Kempton or Sandown.
Of course, the strength of the old Easterby and Dickinson empires has faded away, and Nicky Richards can hardly be as bold as his pugnacious father used to be, but the absence of northern horses at southern meetings also means an absence of northern jockeys.
Who doesn't want to see a fired up Harry Skelton celebration?\ Seb Daly/Sportsfile Sportsfile
Worthy champion
I’m talking most notably about Brian Hughes, a worthy champion, who has tended to ply his trade in calmer waters on the big race days outside his own domain. The chance to gain a great financial reward will surely tempt the likes of Hughes and Henry Brooke to push for such rides, while I wouldn’t expect Paul Townend to settle for a single ride, if Willie Mullins has one horse to send to a British target.
Danny Mullins is another Irish jockey, who won’t be idle when there are spares to be had and, with prizes for the top two conditional jockeys, we can expect to see more of the likes of Ben Harvey and Mike O’Connor riding for John McConnell and Henry de Bromhead, respectively. Make no mistake, this cup will really shake things up.
From a punter’s perspective, the knowledge that jockeys will be fighting tooth and nail for the best televised rides will make for more intrigue, too, as we try to work out why a leading rider has come in for the mount for a yard he’s rarely associated with. What can be read into such a booking, and each-way backers in particular will be delighted, as you can be sure every jockey will be keener than ever to ride out to the line when there is something to be salvaged.
More at stake
Will the initiative make TV racing more competitive? In one way, it will certainly make the races we have feel like there is even more at stake, and that is a positive thing, while the rewards for trainers and stable staff might tip the balance, where trainers might be on the fence about running one.
The jockeys’ title can be a cliff-hanger, but there are years where the anticipation can wear thin, whereas even if the likely winner of the main prize is known weeks before the end of the competition, the league element with decreasing reward for the top 10 riders ensures there is mileage in the jockeys’ battle right until the end of the campaign.
The ability to frame the contest as a narrative to the season is a Godsend for ITV Racing and GBR, who will find it much easier to promote the jumps season as an ongoing competition and, the fact that the top jockeys stand to earn a fair reward for their participation, means that they will be incentivised to promote that narrative in TV and online interactions.
That is something which has always been a problem in the UK, where certain jockeys traditionally view televised interviews as a nuisance, which interferes with their first priority to give feedback to connections ahead of the media; there’s nothing like the promise of cold, hard cash to change hearts and minds, and long may that last!