Harry Redknapp, the former Tottenham and West Ham manager, is daring to dream of Cheltenham Gold Cup success with his horse The Jukebox Man. The seven-year-old is one of the favourites for Friday's showpiece race after winning the King George VI Chase at Kempton Park in December. Victory would be one of the best sporting stories of the year, with Redknapp already a household name from football and his stint on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!
Redknapp was in a reflective mood after watching his first runner of the meeting, Taurus Bay, finish down the field in Wednesday's Turners Novices' Hurdle. He expressed sympathy for owner Max McNeill, whose favourite No Drama This End was tailed off. 'It's scary, isn't it?' Redknapp said. 'He's the most lovely man, he had the favourite there and I know how he's been. I saw him before the race, all the expectations, and he ends up tailed off. It's unreal.'
The Jukebox Man will attempt to join legends such as Arkle, Desert Orchid and Kauto Star on the Gold Cup roll of honour. Redknapp has been an owner for 35 years, enduring many more downs than ups. His first horse was Slick Cherry during his time at Bournemouth, and he later owned the useful sprinter Moviesta. Success over jumps came only after he started sending horses to Ben Pauling's stable near Cheltenham. Shakem Up'Arry, named after a fan's shouts at West Ham, was his first festival winner two years ago.
Redknapp recalled the disappointment of The Jukebox Man being caught in the final strides of the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle at the 2023 festival. 'We go into Friday hoping,' he said. 'I never dreamed I'd have a horse run in a Gold Cup, so to have a runner with a chance, for me it's a dream. It would be lovely, but I'm just hopeful.' He added that he and his wife Sandra remain grounded, saying: 'We're not like billy bigheads or anything, we just get on with it, and talk to everybody. It doesn't cost anything, does it, being nice to people?'
Redknapp's love of racing dates back to his childhood in the East End, when betting shops were illegal and his nan was a bookies' runner. He does not have a matchday routine for Friday but has a lucky garment given to him by Paolo Di Canio. After the race, he plans to go home for fish and chips, saying: 'We are so tame, you couldn't make it up.'
