Equinties - Cheltenham Friday

Gm Equinauts

Its not just Friday, it’s Cheltenham Friday. They don’t get better than that!

The ground is going to be riding a little faster today than in recent years so make sure you’ve ticked the pedigree box is you’re betting.

We’ve previewed the big races today including our favourite XC and picked out the good ground horses who won’t mind the quicker pace.

Good luck, let’s dive in.

HEADLINE ROUNDUP

MONEY MONEY MONEY

People are creatures of habit and that is certainly true in racing where new things aren’t always welcome.

Take the Racing League, Shergar Cup, and new whip regulations. Everyone knows someone who has a problem with them. So, it’ll be interesting to see how this new jump jockey’s competition will fly as the season progresses.

The David Power Jockeys’ Cup is a £1.5 million project that will see jump jockeys compete against each other in a league table-style competition for the ITV races this season.

Funded by Flutter (Paddy Power, Betfair, and Sky Bet), whichever jockey finishes the season on the top of the table will win £500,000, which is nearly double what Harry Cobden got in prize money last season during his jockeys’ championship success.

So, let’s flesh out how this competition will work.

Starting today, jockeys receive points for races they ride in that are shown just on ITV Racing.

The winning jockey in a race gets 10pts, second gets eight, third gets six, and fourth gets four.

The points will then go against their names in the league table which will run until the second day of the Aintree Grand National Festival (April 4th).

Not only will the winner of the season receive £500,000, the second will net £200,000, the third will get £100,000, and four to ten in the league table will also get a bit of money, as will the trainers and stable staff who supply these jockeys with the horses to ride.

So, our competitors are receiving a larger incentive to ride better in their races. Sounds good to us.

It’ll be interesting to see how this goes down throughout the year and how much it is covered on mainstream TV, but for now, all looks good for the jockeys!

But what about the owners!?

That’s our concern. Owners are carrying this sport and getting f all back in return.

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