This season’s new initiative in jumps racing has set tongues wagging a little. The David Power Jockeys’ Cup features a top prize of £500,000 for the winning jockey with some apparently favouring a tilt at that, rather than going all-out for the official jockeys’ championship.
The Cup competition features only ITV televised races and total prize fund of £1.5 million. It began on the opening day of Cheltenham’s November meeting and runs right through to the Grand National Festival at Aintree in April.
Here’s how the David Power Jockeys’ Cup leaderboard looks after The November Meeting.
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) November 17, 2024
Who Would We Consider the Real Champ?
There was some criticism some time ago levelled at Brian Hughes. The gist of it all was that, while Brian Hughes rode the most winners and was crowned champion jockey, he did so often in lower-grade races. Those thought of as better riders rode fewer winners but did it in the big Saturday races and festival events.
So, if some jockeys didn’t go all-out for the official jockeys’ title but did win the David Power Jockeys’ Cup, would we consider them the real champion of Britain?
David Power Cup v Jockeys’ Championship
Naturally, the formats are different. In the David Power Cup, jockeys get 10 points for a win, 8 points for finishing second, 6 points for riding third and 4 points for being fourth in eligible races.
As always, the jockeys’ title involves simply riding the most winners, regardless of the circumstances. What we’re interested in, is whether a split will emerge. There are similarities so far, but we can see how things may differ between the two competitions as the season goes on.
These are the standings as of December 17:
| David Power Jockeys’ Cup (Points) | Jump Jockeys’ Championship (Points) |
|---|---|
| Harry Skelton (132) | Sean Bowen (106) |
| Sam Twiston-Davies (108) | Harry Skelton (103) |
| Nico de Boinville (102) | Sam Twiston-Davies (75) |
| Sean Bowen (90) | Harry Cobden (58) |
| Harry Cobden ( 90) | Gavin Sheehan (58) |
| Brendan Powell (56) | James Bowen (54) |
| Charlie Deutsch (52) | Brian Hughes (44) |
| Jonathan Burke (42) | Henry Brooke (41) |
| Jonjo O’Neill Jr. (40) | Jack Tudor (40) |
| James Bowen (38) | Jonjo O’Neill Jr. (36) |
These two sets of figures won’t tell us everything. There will always be comments aimed at certain jockeys for being handed the best horses to ride for example. That gets them the wins in the big ITV Saturday races and therefore can land them some major David Power prize money.
On the other hand, they have to handle the pressure, and we do tend to want to see the best jockeys on the best horses. It’s all about the quality and that should be rewarded.
Harry Skelton is clearly doing well so far in both competitions, as is Sam Twiston-Davies. We can also however see some clear differences.
While Sean Bowen does sit fourth in the David Power Cup, he’s a good way behind Skelton yet sits top of the jockeys’ championship. Nico de Boinville will make a challenge for the £500k but is only 18th in the championship with 26 seasonal winners in total.
The ‘Real Champ’ and Racing’s Finances
The advent of the David Power Jockeys’ Cup does open up an interesting question. Who do we consider the real champion at the end of all this? Because really, we tend to see the ‘champion’ as the best, not the most prolific. Some however would indeed argue that winning a title should be a grind, featuring as much hard graft as skill.
There is another element to all this. Bookies, collectively, have been telling is that racing isn’t profitable for them anymore. Why then can a bookmaker, in this case Paddy Power, throw £1,500,000 at this competition alone?
The money exists within the industry to make prize money better, but it simply stays in the wrong pockets. This competition is a great initiative, but it is also highlighting what’s wrong with racing’s finances.
Either we need to keep the money centrally via pool betting organised within the sport and not by private companies, or we need the levy to be bigger and stricter.