Confident Geraghty hoping to eclipse his fantastic five with Sprinter and co

“I would like to think I can improve on 2012... it’s hard to keep the smile off your face when you’re riding horses as good as Sprinter Sacre,” Nicky Henderson’s stable jockey told the Yorkshire Post in an exclusive interview ahead of jump racing’s Olympics.

It helps that Geraghty continues to have an enduring association with Henderson who became the winning-most trainer in Cheltenham history 12 months ago.

Henderson expects to saddle at least 40 horses this week as he bids to become champion trainer for the first time since the 1980s and end the recent domination of Paul Nicholls, with the precocious Sprinter Sacre likely to be the shortest Festival favourite since the legendary Arkle won his third – and last – Gold Cup in 1966.

And while 33-year-old Geraghty accepts that there was an element of luck 12 months ago, including Riverside Theatre’s last gasp win in a dramatic Ryanair Chase and Finian’s Rainbow benefitting from the final fence of the Queen Mother Champion Chase being bypassed, his pre-Festival confidence was infectious and offered no evidence of nerves – or pressure.

“I’ve just spoken to the trainer and he seems fairly calm and relaxed,” said the rider who won the Grand National 10 years ago on the heavily-backed Monty’s Pass. “When he is calm and relaxed, it is a good thing, believe me.

“He is the one who can make the biggest difference to a horse’s chances. I have got three or four minutes to shine – there is no point getting worked up.

“Nicky strives for success and he expects it, though he’s been in the game long enough to realise that there is no such thing as a racing certainty.

“It helps if you get an early winner. If you get one, you hope to get two. It gets the monkey off the back. That’s why day one is so important.”

Geraghty’s first significant ride comes in the second race tomorrow when the dashing grey Simonsig, victorious over hurdles last year, puts his unbeaten steeplechase record on the line in the Racing Post Arkle Chase.

An electric pace will be set by Jason Maguire on Overturn – but Geraghty, who hails from County Meath in Ireland, is unperturbed: “I just want to be in touch at the top of the hill, because it’s still a long way home from there.”

Significantly, the jockey believes Simonsig compares favourably – as a novice chaser – to Moscow Flyer who provided him with his first Festival victory in 2002 in the Arkle. This is an ominous warning to Overturn’s supporters.

The first rider in history to win all four of Cheltenham’s championship races, and also a Grand National, when Punjabi landed the Stan James Champion Hurdle four years ago, Geraghty says this year’s renewal is wide open.

While 2011 champion Hurricane Fly will be a hot favourite for his perennial rival and compatriot Ruby Walsh, Geraghty is bullish about his mount Grandouet whose only run this season saw him finish second at Cheltenham in December in conditions that were close to being unraceable. “He’s a lot fitter and better ground will help.”

Unlike Simonsig who Geraghty rides regularly on the gallops as the horse becomes accustomed to fences, his association with Sprinter Sacre is now limited to the racecourse.

Mesmeric in his two starts this season, and regarded by many as a certainty for the Queen Mother Champion Chase, Geraghty knew that ‘the black beast’ was a “horse of a lifetime” when he made his chasing debut at Doncaster in December 2011 under young David Bass.

“I was at Cheltenham. I saw him jump the first in the weighing room, saw him ping the ditch from the paddock and saw him clear the last while on the way to the start – I don’t think I’ve ever been more relieved,” he said.

“If you can get him to relax, and jump well, the rest will take care of itself. Just keep it simple. Why should I be worried that he’s the biggest certainty since Arkle? It’s a privilege to have the opportunity to ride such a horse. There is more pressure riding something less likely to win than something that is certain to win.”

As for Thursday’s Ladbrokes World Hurdle, a race diluted by the absence of four-time winner Big Buck’s through injury, Geraghty poured scorn on those who believe that his mount – Oscar Whisky – does not stay three miles.

“He got the three miles the last day and I don’t see why he won’t get it. He just didn’t sparkle in the race last year. Back to his best, he will go very close – believe me.”

Looking ahead to the blue riband Betfred Gold Cup on Friday, Geraghty’s interest in Bobs Worth extends from the professional to the personal. “Myself and my brother bought him as a yearling,” he explained. “We then sold him through Doncaster Sales to Nicky as a four-year-old.

“He had an owner lined up. If he’d been sold to a Paul Nicholls or Philip Hobbs, it would have been a bitter pill. He was a nice sort, a good, active worker. He wasn’t overly big but he had a real nice pedigree.

“He was brilliant in the RSA last year and the Hennessy form this season appears rock solid. I’m not worried that this was his only run this season – Nicky is brilliant at getting horses right on the day. There’s no one better at doing this, and why risk losing a Gold Cup by running a horse on unsuitably heaving going?

“I rode him on the gallops the other day. I didn’t think he could improve but, believe me, the recent improvement has been huge. I think his stablemate Long run is the one to beat – he’s so consistent for Sam Waley-Cohen – but I wouldn’t swap Bobs Worth for anything.”

Barry Geraghty is sponsored by satellite channel At The Races.

Barry tipped to see off rival Walsh as festival’s top jockey

RICHARD Dunwoody, the former champion jockey, believes Barry Geraghty will be the leading rider at the 2013 Festival.

Dunwoody foresees a terrific tussle between Geraghty and his Irish compatriot Ruby Walsh, with Nicky Henderson’s stable jockey just having the edge.

“With Sprinter Sacre and Simonsig, Barry’s two big bankers, these probably just shade Ruby’s two – Quevega and Hurricane Fly,” says Dunwoody who was top jockey in 1990 and 1996 when just two winners were sufficient to land the accolade on each occasion.

“Add in Bobs Worth in the Gold Cup, Grandouet (Champion Hurdle), Oscar Whisky (World Hurdle) and Riverside Theatre (Ryanair) then, Barry looks to have a slightly better second tier set of rides too, and that’s without the handicaps.

“Next best in the betting is AP McCoy at around 7/1. Although the champ has two ‘top jockey’ titles to his name it’s hard to see him challenging the main two.”