Jockey Robbie Power joined Eoin and Dave on OTB AM to discuss this weekend’s Irish Grand National, the state of Irish hunt racing and his future.
On the position of Irish trainers, following Gordon Elliott and Willie Mullin’s triumphant Cheltenham festival this month, Robbie gave us an insight into a period that might be deemed Ireland’s ‘Messi and Ronaldo’:
“For years, it was a huge thing if Ireland went to Cheltenham and had two or three winners. The fact that we are going and having fourteen, fifteen – nineteen last year and sixteen this year – at the moment, it’s as high as it’s ever been. I don’t think you can get much higher. It’s because the good horses are being kept in Ireland. A lot of them are with Willie [Mullins] and Gordon [Elliott], but I think it’s much better for Ireland if they are in Ireland than in England with Paul Nicholls or Nicky Henderson.”
In terms of his future and how he can lend his expertise to racing in the future, Robbie was reticent on committing to a career in training himself.
“I suppose, at the moment, the jockey side of things is going well enough that I don’t really want to think about something else! I don’t know if training is top of the agenda at the moment – it’s a very competitive game and I don’t know if it’s for me. I’m not sure what I’m going to do – I’m going to concentrate on riding for as long as I can. Harry Rogers said to me, after I rode a winner for him at Punchestown one year: “Ride for as long as you can, because when you stop, you have to start working!”
Given Ruby Walsh’s series of injuries recently, Robbie told us how jockeys tend to regard their futures.
“Every jockey would love to come in after riding a horse and say ‘That’s it lads, I’ve had enough’ . Unfortunately, not every gets to make that decision as the decision is made for you. Hopefully, I’ll come in after riding a winner for Jessie and say ‘Thanks a million Jessie, but I’ve had enough – I’m going to call it a day.’”
“It’s a dangerous game and the decision is not always in your hands.”
You can watch the show live at the top of the page from 7.45am, or catch us on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
