If you like horse races, you probably heard about the Cheltenham Festival, which is one of the most remarkable tournaments in the whole world. It is well-known for its long-lasting tradition and special features that make it even more unique.
The four-day event is not popular only because some of the best jockeys from the world will show their performances, but also for some traditions like special dress codes, food, drinks, and more. For example, a lot of people will come dressed in Victorian-era suits and dresses. Moreover, over 100,000 liters of beer is being sold each year.
Therefore, it can be a great destination for you even if you are not that familiar with horse racing. Also, if you prefer betting on various events, it can be a good thing to learn more about the odds and systems that you can use to bet on different races. The first thing to do is to check the current offers for this event, which you can do if you check here.
Before you start investing in bets on these events, you should check more details about the best horses at the moment. Besides that, learning more about the history of this sport can also help you make more accurate decisions. In that matter, we are going to introduce you to some of the best jockeys of all time in this tournament.
Robert Thornton
We are going to start with Robert who is one of the best riders in the new era of this sport. He managed to win 16 titles at this event. The prime year for this sportsman was 2007 when he was promoted as the best jockey in the world for that year. Unfortunately, he had to retire due to an injury in 2020.
Charlie Swan
The next rider that we have to mention is Charlie, who has one more title than Thornton. While he has a lot of titles in other tournaments, especially in Ireland, the titles in Cheltenham made this rider famous. The first gold medal was given to him in 1990, and he was successful throughout the 90s. His last title came from the 2002 championship.
Fred Winter
This guy has the same number of titles as the previous champion we mentioned here. However, Fred was active a few decades before, during the 50s and 60s. The unique thing related to this jockey is that he is still the only man who managed to complete golden medals at all three biggest events in horse racing. Moreover, Winter is a very successful trainer as well, where he managed to win even more titles, 28.
Richard Dunwoody
Richard was active during the 90s, and he had a lot of fans during that time, which is not a surprise considering how many titles he had won. This jockey won 18 titles between the mid-80s and mid-90s. The early 90s was the best since he had no decent competition to stop him from winning a lot of gold medals in a row.
Davy Russel
Davy had a career similar to the previous jockey, and the same number of titles. He started with a successful career at the beginning of the 2000s, and one of the most iconic titles was in 2014, where he won both opening and closing events.
Richard Johnson
This rider managed to overthrow Dunwoody from the throne and become even more successful with his 22 titles. The period for Johnson was between 1999 and 2003 when he won almost all important and big horse races along with the Cheltenham events.
Pat Taaffe
The most amazing fact about Pat is that he won the Irish championship 9 times. When it comes to Cheltenham, he got 25 titles in this event. The best period for him was during the 60s. The best record was made in 1960, where he won 5 titles on the same tour. Also, I repeated the same score next year.
Anthony McCoy
Mister McCoy is a living legend of this sport, and even those who are not so familiar with this sport have heard about him. The interesting this is that he had a very long career that started in the mid-90s, when he won the first title, while the last one was in 2015. A total of 31 medals are given to this rider.
Barry Geraghty
Barry was the biggest rival to McCoy, and he managed to win three more titles. He also has a very long career, but unlike McCoy, he is still active. The most iconic titles are from 2009, where he won the Hurdles, 2010, Big Zeb, and two golden cups on Kicking King in 2005. His record is related to Triumphs and Arkles since no one has managed to win more of these titles to this day.
The Best of All Time
The most interesting thing about the best jockey at this event since it has the current form is that the amount of titles is higher than two previous riders combined. Ruby Walsh is considered the best rider of all time since he managed to win 56 titles only at Cheltenham.
He is also responsible for the promotion of this sport, and a lot of people have heard about him and started reading more about horse racing. The best time for his career was in the early 2000s. This legend is still involved in horse races since he is now working as a columnist and commentator.
The Bottom Line
It is always a good thing to learn more about the history of some sport so you can check the current records and how some of these legends could influence the future generations. There are some younger stars who might have a chance to win new records, like Paul Townend, Harry Skelton, and more.
If you are interested in betting, keep in mind that this tournament is one of the best in the world, which provides even higher motivations for jockeys to make a better result. Therefore, surprises are always possible.
