Ruby Walsh clear favourite for Cheltenham Festival Top Jockey prize
With only a few days left in the Cheltenham festival, all eyes are once again on Ruby Walsh – the hot favourite rider to claim the Top Jockey prize.
The veteran rider has achieved this feat five times so far in his career and will be looking to add another to his tally.
The horse’s name might be the most important thing for the bettors when it comes to choose a Cheltenham Festival winner.
However, a lot will also depend on the jockey, who guides the runner to victory.
The upcoming mega event is a huge market for the punters to invest their money in. Alongside many others, the Top Jockey award is certainly one of the most interesting bets.
Of the present crop, Walsh has the highest chances of winning, following his fantastic track record at Cheltenham.
Tony McCoy can easily be placed second in the list of all time great Cheltenham riders.
However, the Irishman is not shortlisted any more, as he topped the chart last time back in 1998.
On the other hand, Walsh has recently proved his worth at Cheltenham, riding nearly 30 winners from the start-studded barns of Willie Mullins and Paul Nicholls.
During next month’s big event, the experienced jockey will once again ride Mullin and Nicholls’ trainees and with both handlers in terrific form at the moment, Walsh is all set to seal more wins than any other jockey in the
event.
Walsh will be seen in action with the greats like Big Bucks, Hurricane Fly and Kauto Star.
Considering his wonderful prior record at the venue, the bookies are rating him as favourite for the forthcoming extravaganza.
Skybet has acknowledged him as 1-2 favourite while the great rider is enjoying the highest odds with Bets365 and William Hill.
The rider most likely to give Walsh a tough competition is Barry Geraghty. He is due to accompany many dangerous geldings like Sprinter Sacre and Grandouet.
With that in mind, the bookmakers are awarding him with the second highest odds in the competition.
Bet365 has given Geraghty the odds of 1-3 whereas the experienced jockey is currently enjoying a starting price of 11/4 with William Hill.
Despite the fact that McCoy did nothing special in the recent Cheltenham festivals, he cannot be ignored.
He dominated the festival for almost a decade before losing his momentum in 1998. If McCoy delivers to his potential, he will be a delight to watch.
Timmy Murphy is also one of the strong contenders but with Walsh in the line-up, it will be a bit risky to put money on him.
Final Prediction
There is no reason why Ruby Walsh should not have a great outing at Cheltenham.
Among the rest, nobody seems in good position to stop him from winning his sixth title.
Barry Geraghty’s surprise entry cannot be ruled out of the picture but it will be an uphill task for him.
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