Cheltenham news: Will The Jukebox Man win the Gold Cup? 

The Jukebox Man will look to win his third Grade One contest when the 2026 Cheltenham Festival gets underway in March. 

The eight-year-old gelding is trading at 7/1 to carry the colours of former Premier League Football manager Harry Redknapp to victory in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. 

He won the (Grade One) Ladbrokes King George VI Chase on his latest start, at the expense of 2024 winner Banbridge, as well as 2024 and 2025 Arkle winners Gaelic Warrior and Jango Baie. 

In the immediate aftermath of the race, Redknapp said: “That’s a dream and to have a horse that good is unbelievable. 

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Special

“I love the game, to come here on King George day and just run made me so proud, but to have the winner is special.”

The win comes after an injury-plagued year that saw The Jukebox Man off the track for 10 months. 

In the days after the race, his trainer Ben Pauling told the Racing Post: “He’s not tired at all, he barely blew after the race.

“Ben Jones (jockey) actually felt he would improve again for the run.

“I thought he was beaten because it’s not far from the last to the line, but the bugger managed to get back up.

“If the line had been another ten metres on, he would have won by half a length to a length. It really was the most incredible race to watch.”

The Jukebox Man is due to make his second appearance at the Cheltenham Festival and his first since finishing second in the 2024 Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle.  

Injury

Following his win in the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase on Boxing Day 2024, he traded as short as 9/2 to win the 2025 Brown Advisory – a race he wouldn’t take part in. 

In January last year, Pauling announced that the gelding had suffered an injury that would see him miss the rest of the season. 

His statement read: “The Jukebox Man has this morning sustained an injury during his routine exercise that will sadly rule him out for the season.

“At this early stage, the feedback from our veterinary team and the specialists is positive that we can look forward to seeing him return in the autumn.

“It is a huge blow for all involved and every care is being taken for one of our stable’s leading lights. 

“We will update you on his recovery in due course.”

Unbeaten

His win in the King George followed success in the (Grade Two) Graduation Chase – at Haydock – on his first start since his injury. 

Both his victories this season have ensured that he has remained unbeaten in four runs over fences, a record that he will look to maintain in just over nine weeks’ time. 

He will likely head straight to the Festival, teeing up another clash with Jango Baie and Gaelic Warrior, both of whom are in the betting. 

The former is around 8/1, whilst the latter is as big as 10/1 in some places, but all three will have to conquer last year’s Irish-trained 1-2 if they are to come out on top in March. 

Two-time Gold Cup champion Galopin Des Champs was denied his third-consecutive win in the race when he finished second in last year’s renewal. 

Trainer Willie Mullins’ star was beaten six lengths into second by trainer Gavin Cromwell’s Inothewayurthinkin. 

The pair of them trade as joint-favourites in the ante-post betting, at 6/1, and though it was the latter that came out on top on that occasion, he has been beaten an accumulative 94 lengths in two subsequent races – both of which came this season. 

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