In association with BoyleSports, we had the opportunity to interview former Wexford jockey, Robbie Power, ahead of the looming Cheltenham festival…
Power, who originally hails from Wexford but is now living in Meath, sat down with us to discuss all things from the dominance of powerhouse trainer Willie Mullins to his hopes for the new coach of Liverpool.
Although he retired in 2022, he is no stranger to big Cheltenham success himself, having won the Cheltenham Gold Cup on board of Sizing John in 2017.
Speaking to Wexford Weekly and in association with BoyleSports who offer Cheltenham Gold Cup odds, Robbie thinks that Galopin Des Champs can be beaten in the Gold Cup despite being strong favourite.
“He can be beaten, of course, it’s a Gold Cup. He was beaten twice last year after winning the Gold Cup and twice by Fastorslow but if Galopin Des Champs puts up the performance he did at Punchestown at Christmas then I find it very hard to see anything beating him – that was as good a performance as I have sene from a chaser in a very long time.
His gold Cup win last year was a good performance too as he overcame a lot of things that went against him so he was obviously a very good horse to win then and that doesn’t happen a lot in the Gold Cup if things aren’t going your way. He is the class horse of the race, no doubt.
Shishkin I think is a big danger. Gerri Colombe, I know Gordon Elliott didn’t think he was at his best at Christmas, so we will see an improvement, Gentlemansgame was good when winning the Charlie Hall. Bravemansgame obviously can put him to the test too.”
How is Henry de Bromhead’s string looking for the Festival?
RP: We are very happy with how things have gone on, I suppose there is a bit of a changing of the guard this year. Some of the big guns, the likes of Minella Indo, are dropping down in class in the Cross Country Chase, which he will be very competitive in.
A Plus Tard has been retired, Honeysuckle has been retired, so there is a little bit of changing of the guard but we have a nice bunch of novices to go to war with, Slade Steel and Monty’s Star for example. So it is a bit of a change but we have a good team going over, around 20 horses to head there.
It’s a rebuild, exactly. I don’t think our expectations have dropped though, we would still like a couple of winners. We might not have as many big guns but we do have a nice bunch of horses to go with.
Minella Indo has a great chance in the Cross Country stepping down in class
RP: I think Minella Indo will go well in the Cross Country. His run back at Cheltenham over the banks was a huge performance, especially with 12 stone on his back and giving a stone and a half away to the first and second so he will take a lot of beating in the Cross Country. He’s never been out of the first two at the Festival.
Perceval Legallois, a horse of Gavin Cromwell’s, he was a shade unlucky when coming down at the last at the DRF so he could be well in for the Kim Muir. Another horse of Jono O’Neill’s too, Crebily, I think he will go for the Plate and his form has been boosted, he’s snuck in ahead of the handicapper.
State Man can bridge the gap to Constitution Hill
RP: I do know that Paul Townend, Willie Mullins and the State Man camp think he didn;t run his race last year and there is evidence to back that up this year. He was very good at the DRF when beating Bob Olinger and I do think State Man will bridge the gap. He’s a better horse this year than last.
Ryanair is wide open – Envoi Allen has a massive chance
RP: I think this race is wide open. Banbridge is very ground dependent, if you’re thinking of backing him ante post then I wouldn’t, I’d be waiting for the ground. The performance he put up at Kempton when he beat Pic D’Orhy has worked out really well when Pic D’Orhy won at Ascot, so that form is very strong for Banbridge.
Envoi Allen for Henry, he was very good when winning this race last year and the ground won’t matter at all to him, he has a massive chance of beating Banbridge.
El Fabiolo is the banker of the week in the Champion Chase
RP: El Fabiolo is probably one of the bankers of the week, for me. I have been very, very disappointed this year with Jonbon. People were blaming the jockey last time but I don’t buy that, he just doesn’t act as well around Cheltenham as he does at Aintree or the flatter tracks.
His performance in the Tingle Creek wasn’t great either, I can’t see him being any threat to El Fabiolo, he will be very hard to beat.
Hewick’s chances in the Gold Cup with the prize of £100,000 from BoyleSports up for grabs if he wins?
RP: Hewick can do anything, he is the fairytale story to the Gold Cup. Did I think he would win the King George? No I didn’t, I thought Kempton would be way too sharp for him.
That said, he was running a mighty race in the Gold Cup last year when he came down at the second last, though I know Jordan Gainford who was riding him didn’t think he would beat them. In the King George he came on so strong, he definitely has an each-way chance if the ground is dry.
My three Cheltenham Festival tips
Envoi Allen – Ryanair
Perceval Legallois – Kim Muir
Lossiemouth – Mares’ Hurdle
Are we getting too Cheltenham-centric?
RP: It is a little bit that way, I suppose. There are some other big races out there pre and after Cheltenham so it all comes thick and fast as you have Cheltenham, then the Irish Grand National, Fairyhouse and then Aintree, Punchestown after that.
A lot of people want to go to Cheltenham – owners, jockeys, trainers – and the rest of it just really slots into place after that.
I am really looking forward to it – there would be something wrong with you if you were not looking forward to it. It’s the be all and end all of the National Hunt season so I can’t wait.
Is it in danger of being too big?
RP: I hope it doesn’t go up to five days, that’s for sure. Even at four days now with a couple of the races it has, you’d question whether they should be in there or not so I hope it doesn’t get diluted any more, we need to keep it at four days.
Is there a danger of the causal punter being priced out?
RP: There is. This year especially, at the Dublin Racing Festival there was a huge amount of English people over for the two days, eight Grade One races, people found it much better value than Cheltenham.
Cheltenham could become a bit of a victim of its own success but that is something that has to be monitored. There will always be big crowds there but you have to make sure that punters are wanting to go there.
Is Willie Mullins’ dominance a problem for racing?
RP: I don’t see it as a problem, it is a little disheartening I suppose for a lot of people that Willie is so dominant but as the old saying goes, if you win in the sales ring then you win on the race track and Willie has been able to get all these horses – he has the owners, he has the ammunition.
I suppose the one difference to the Flat with Aidan O’Brien for example, where it’s all Coolmore whereas Willie’s runners are spread among five or six different owners. At DRF they all had grade one winners and Willie is never afraid to have his runners take each other on, he often has three, four or five in the grade one’s so it makes for competitive racing.
Can the Brits claw back some pride in the Prestbury Cup?
RP: When you look at the English challenge, Nicky Henderson probably has the strongest chance and hand of them. If he has a good week he could have three or four winners but if Willie has a good weekend, he could have ten winners.
The English will be very strong in some of the handicaps, the Irish are probably not handicapped well anymore so that’ll be interesting to see this year but the big races will likely go to the Irish.
We have been winning at the sales. A lot of the bigger owners in Ireland are actually from England and are sending over their horses as the prize money is so good.
That is starting to change though, the prize money over there is starting to come back a lot. No domination lasts in any sport – at the moment Ireland are but I can see that changing in the times to come.
In football, Liverpool were dominant in the 80s, Man Utd were dominant in the noughties.
Speaking of football – as a Liverpool fan, who would you want to replace Jurgen Klopp?
RP: I enjoyed yesterday a lot. I gave my five-year-old daughter an awful fright when Van Dijk scored and I jumped up off the couch, frightening the life out of her.
Liverpool have obviously been very good over the last few years but now Jurgen Klopp is in his final season so will they be as dominant or as good? I don’t know, it’ll change.
I’d get Xabi Alonso in. I think he has done a fantastic job with Leverkusen and he fits the bill – an ex-player, extremely good midfielder, plays a great style of football and is reminiscent of him as a player.
You have to give Klopp credit for bringing on the young lads. Most managers would have stuck with the 11 players on the pitch that started, the more senior players, to try and see it through but Klopp knew he needed fresh legs and those fresh legs were the young lads. Fair play to them for stepping up to the mark.
Roy Keane for the Ireland national team?
RP: I think if you had Sir Alex Ferguson or Jurgen Klopp in charge, they wouldn’t turn the Ireland national team around at the moment.
They need someone like Roy Keane back playing for them rather than managing, that might be better. We don’t have the quality of players at the moment but hopefully it will turn around.
Having high-profile owners like Sir Alex, Graeme McDowell and Brooks Koepka is great for our sport
RP: Having him around the sport as an owner and a fan is huge for racing. I see Brooks Koepka and Graeme McDowell now as well and other golfers, Lee Westwood for example, they are all getting involved. Having high-profile interest is massive.
New faces are always great. Racing is an expensive sport and you need these new owners coming in and having success. I wish them all success.
I didn’t have any pre-race rituals – I just wanted to get on with the job
RP: Not really, I just usually got on the horse and rode it. I suppose one superstition I had was that I would always put my goggles on top of my helmet as the last thing I did before a race. Apart from that, I just got on with it!
Robbie Power was speaking to Wexford Weekly in association with BoyleSports, who offer Cheltenham Gold Cup odds. The Cheltenham festival gets underway from Mar 12, 2024, 1:30 PM – Fri, Mar 15, 2024.
