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What makes the perfect Cheltenham Jump jockey

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The calendar’s most famous National Hunt meeting is fast approaching, so what better time to saddle up the GG data boffins? We tasked them with finding character commonalities between past and present title-winning Cheltenham jockeys - studying everything from star signs to hair colour and height. Yes, you read that right. View our findings below and check out some pie-in-the-sky predictions for this year’s festival.

Jockey characteristics

Calculating Cheltenham jockey characteristics

Here you can see common attributes shared across 32 past and present successful Cheltenham jockeys, from Gold Cup stars to Champion Hurdle heroes

  • nationality
    ireland

    irish

  • gender
    male

    male

  • home region
    pin

    co. cork

  • height
    measure

    5'8"

  • eye colour
    eye

    blue

  • hair colour
    face

    brown

  • marital status
    relationship

    married

  • star sign
    star-sign

    virgo

  • turned pro
    horse

    age 19

  • first win
    trophy

    age 19

2022 predictions

Profile Predictions for Cheltenham 2022

The Cheltenham Festival is one of the most challenging National Hunt meetings to predict. So, for a bit of fun, we've whittled down this year's competitors to a handful of jockeys who best reflect the winning attributes outlined above.

Our top 5 matches

  • #
    Jockeys
    characteristics
  • 1
    Jonjo O'Neill Jr.
  • 2
    Daryl Jacob
  • 3
    Paddy Brennen
  • 4
    Tom Scudamore
  • 5
    Paul Townend

In-house predictions

  • #
    Jockeys
  • 1
    Paul Townend
  • 2
    Rachael Blackmore
  • 3
    Nico de Boinville
  • 4
    Davy Russell
  • 5
    Harry Cobden

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Explore the stats

Cheltenham Jockeys by Numbers

Want to see how British and Irish jump jockeys compare? What about the trainers who have earned the most Cheltenham titles? Here are a few more stats based on our sample of previous winners.

Jockeys by nationality

  • 0 %

    Irish

  • 0 %

    British

Want to know which nation can lay claim to the overall crown at Cheltenham? Visit our Cheltenham Rivals page

  • Most Cheltenham wins

    Ruby Walsh

    0

  • Most career wins

    Tony McCoy

    0

Turned professional

Won first race

youngest

15years
Charlie Swan
Graham Lee

oldest

27years
Simon Sherwood
Graham Bradley

youngest

16years
Paul Carberry
Tommy Carmody
Charlie Swan
Harry Skelton
Harry Cobden

oldest

27years
Simon Sherwood

Most decorated associated trainers

  • Nicky Henderson

    Associated jockeys (4)

    Nico de Boinville, Barry Geraghty, Mick Fitzgerald, Steve Smith Eccles

  • David Nicholson

    Associated jockeys (3)

    Richard Johnson, Robert Thornton, Jim Wilson

  • Willie Mullins

    Associated jockeys (3)

    Paul Townend, Ruby Walsh, Patrick Mullins

Jockey fact files

Jump jockey fact file

Explore the numbers behind 32 of Cheltenham's most well-known, successful jockeys from past & present. Simply click on a name to get started. You’ll see data spanning total hurdle wins, associated trainers, total prize money earned, and more.

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    Find information for a specific day at Cheltenham Festival

    Straight from the horse’s mouth

    Our methodology for finding what makes the perfect Cheltenham jump jockey started with analysing the characteristics of 32 previous titleholders. Of course, we were interested in the meaty stuff, such as average age and associated trainers, but their quirks were also intriguing. Star signs, hair and eye colour, birthplace, height, for example. So, we put our brains together and began analysing the lesser-known data surrounding successful jump jockeys, searching for commonalities.