The jockeys championship is a key measure of both jockey performance and excellence over a racing season. Both national hunt and flat jockeys vie for the established prize each year in their respective championships, with Oisin Murphy holding the former title and Harry Cobden the jump title (though Sean Bowen is looking like a sure thing for the 2025 jump racing title at time of writing – it will be decided in the period from 4th May 2024 to 26th April 2025.).
Jockeys deserve all of the plaudits they receive so the creation of 2024 of the David Power Jockeys Cup was a welcome addition to the jockey prize pot. Launched at the first day of the Cheltenham Open meeting with a £1.5 million prize fund and £500,000 first prize (£200,000 to the runner up, and £100,000 for third place, with additional prizes down to tenth place) , this competition consists of over 100 ITV broadcast races. There’s also tournament prizes for the conditional (£25,000 prize) , 2nd conditional jockey and even racing staff. The Flutter and racing body sponsored David Power Jockeys Cup involves a league table system where points are accured based on the following finishing positions: 1st 10 points, 2nd 8 points, 3rd 6 points, 4th 4 points
Named after legendary bookmaker David Power, the current Cup leaderboard on the official Jockeys Cup website shows Harry Skelton in first place, Harry Cobden in second and Sam Twiston-Davies in third. Other jockeys on the leaderboard include the likes of Nico de Boinville, Sean Bowen and Gavin Shehan. Skelton said of the championship that it represents the pinnacle of achievement in the sport
The David Powers Jockey Cup tournament ends on 5th April at Aintree (having started on 15th November the prior year at Cheltenham) and is bound to add another level of excitement to the national hunt season for both fans and jockeys alike! A jump racing jockey championship with such significant prize money is certain a welcome addition to UK racing, and is must watch TV (all races on ITV Racing) for avid race fans and casual viewers alike.