Paul Townend talks Thurles and winning the 2020 Gold Cup

It is a huge relief that Irish racing is continuing. For jockeys to make a living and to keep all the stables going. It is a huge industry that will slow down a lot so fair play to them for doing everything they can.

Itwill be very different being at the races behind closed doors but when you getout on the track it will be the same. I have been chatting to some of thejockeys in the UK and they don’t know what to do with themselves. Withoutracing a lot of them won’t be making any income. It’s tough on them.

Weare staying away from each other inside the weigh room. We get changed andleave straight away. I don’t think we are putting ourselves in any more dangerracing behind closed doors then we are going about our day to day lives underthe current circumstances.

Saturday – Thurles

Thankfully I have three rides at Thurles tomorrow. I start on Karl Der Grosse (2.10) who is coming here off the back of a big layoff. He disappointed on his last run as well. He won a maiden well in Galway and then I pulled him up last year.

If he can reproduce his best form he would have a little chance but horses like Jetz and Mary Frances bring a lot more recent form into the race. If we can get a nice run, it will let us know where we are going for the future.

I then ride Cut The Mustard in a Grade 3 (3.10). She ran well at Navan the last day behind Sizing Pottsie who she takes on here again. I think the better ground here will suit her. It was very heavy at Navan that day.

On paper, Zero Ten looks the one to beat but he’s coming off the back of a fall which isn’t ideal. Dunvegan has to be taken into account as well but he would prefer further I think. My horse has her chance but she will have to turn the form with Sizing Pottsie.

Lastly, I ride Max Dynamite in the Beginners Chase (4.10). He has had two runs over fences. He came fourth both times but the step up in trip here will suit him. He is getting more confident over fences now and hopefully he can get off the mark here. It looks a nice opportunity for him. We hope he can reproduce his best flat form.

Mybest chance this weekend is probably Max Dynamite. He is classy individual ifhe can put it all together.

Irish Grand National

The Irish Grand National will have a different look now with no English Grand National. Last year’s winner Burrows Saint is in it now as he would’ve been going to Aintree before this.

We also have Acapella Bourgeois and Total Recall who are likely to go there as well. I haven’t made any decisions yet in terms of who I will ride.

Cheltenham Gold Cup

Thisday last week I was confident heading into the Gold Cup with Al Boum Photo insuch good form. Whether he was going to be good enough or not, no one knew. Wewere happy with him and thankfully he duly obliged.

Winningthe Gold Cup for a second year was a very different feeling to the previousyear. 2019 was just pure shock and I suppose this year he was a lot morefancied with more pressure on him. Last year he snuck in under the radar butwas the talking horse this year.

However,it felt every bit as good. It’s an amazing feeling. I certainly felt a bit morepressure this year going into the week but especially on Al Boum Photo. It’sthe biggest race of the week and everyone was saying statistically he couldn’twin. The horse didn’t know that though and he is just so special. 

Duringthe race itself we made a couple of mistakes, especially the first down theback of the second circuit. He hit that very hard and I had to just tell myselfthen to let the race happen rather than chase it. He got into a good rhythmthen.

It’sfunny because although he made that mistake it was his jumping that got himinto such a good position without having to work for it. We knew the race wasgoing to be a lot more different to last year’s but we got the same resultthankfully.

Obviously,I was gutted after the Tuesday. I went home, reflected on it for an hour, andstarted looking at the races for the next day. There was nothing I could doabout it then. I didn’t look at any of the media and to be honest I didn’t havetime. I was busy the next day and had a lot of homework to do. The house Irented didn’t have sky plus either so I couldn’t watch it back.

Beingcrowned Top Festival jockey was huge. I actually didn’t realise it untilafterwards. Every time I looked at the television Barry was riding a winner. Toactually ride as many winners as him was huge for me and to crown it with theGold Cup was amazing. Everything worked out in the end!

Paul.