Why Harry Redknapp can still dream of glory from his star turn and why the Trainers’ Championship is set for blockbuster finale: RACING CONFIDENTIAL

Ben Pauling speaks to Harry Redknapp each day but he still can’t forget the morning he scrolled through his phone, looking for his name, with a sense of dread.

Redknapp had the unexpected thrill of seeing Pauling prepare his horse, Shakem Up’arry, to win at the Cheltenham Festival last March but he headed into 2025 with a totally different feeling around The Jukebox Man, whose performance at Kempton on Boxing Day left his owner overwhelmed.

The Jukebox Man raised the roof in the Kauto Star Novices Chase, justifying odds-on favouritism, to set up dreams for Redknapp and Pauling that he might be able to follow up in the Browns Advisory Chase at the Festival. A calamity, however, unfolded last month when injury intervened.

After a routine piece of work, The Jukebox Man returned lame to Pauling’s stables in Naunton. His trainer immediately knew what this meant and so he made the call to the one-time FA Cup winning manager not knowing how to break the news.

‘I’d never had a horse in Grade One that had started odds-on,’ Pauling tells Racing Confidential. ‘When you are in that situation, anything but a win is a disaster. But he travelled and he jumped and he took it up when he wanted. It was perfect and I think the crowd appreciated the performance.

‘So when I rang Harry, he said to me: “Ben, that’s the phone call I’ve been dreading for the last month.” When you are as competitive and as successful as Harry is, to have a horse at that level is where you want to be. He was terrified of it going wrong and, unfortunately, it has.’

This, however, is one of those setbacks that Redknapp will recognise as not having long-term ramifications. The Jukebox Man underwent surgery and has emerged from his ordeal as a model patient, delighting Pauling with his constitution.

Provided all goes smoothly – and there is no reason why it won – there will be big prizes to be won with The Jukebox Man next winter and it wouldn’t be beyond the realms of possibility that he will be a big player in Newbury’s historic Coral Gold Cup.

‘The injury was a non-displaced fracture of his cannon bone,’ Pauling explains. ‘He’s been sound since he got up from the operation. He starts his walking work next week and, so far, it couldn’t have gone any better.

‘There was always a very good prognosis but the way it is looking he’ll be back in exercise before summer.

‘He’s a popular horse and Harry has a lot to do with that – people believe in him and trust him. To see him have a good horse is great.

‘ But he is not going to be out for long and this will do him no harm whatsoever. We’d love to be going to Cheltenham with bells on – but this won’t affect his career.’

Bowen’s ‘brutal’ bombshell 

James Bowen left Kempton on Tuesday, grinning from ear to ear. He’s a lively character, always with a glint in his eye, and he has become an integral part of Nicky Henderson’s Seven Barrows operation, so much so that he was entrusted with riding Palladium in an important gallop.

The £1.4million purchase is the most expensive horse ever bought at a public auction and he was going to be Bowen’s ride in the JCB Triumph Hurdle – an exciting one at that, given the zip he showed – until the BHA’s Whip Review Committee (WRC) got in touch on Tuesday night.

Bowen’s winning ride on Zestful Hope at Hereford on February 23 caught the eye of the stewards, who referred him for a breach of the rules. Bowen, who has ridden 68 winners so far, was deemed to have administered two more strikes than the permitted number of seven and that put him jeopardy.

He also got a two-day ban in the same race for careless riding and with WRC imposing a seven-day suspension, starting on March 11, it means Bowen is out of the Cheltenham Festival and has no possibility to appeal. It is a savage blow for the jockey and for Henderson.

‘Brutal,’ is how the trainer described the news.

Owen opens up on new high-profile recruit 

James Owen’s immediate thoughts are geared towards Cheltenham but he has spoken to Racing Confidential for the first time about the high-profile new recruit to his stable.

Ambiente Friendly, runner-up to City Of Troy in last season’s Epsom Derby, was removed from James Fanshawe’s stables by owners the Gredley family earlier this month and placed in Owen’s yard, which is two miles across town in Newmarket.

Owen trains the vast majority of the Gredley horses, including JCB Triumph Hurdle second favourite East India Dock, but the arrival of Ambiente Friendly has been an enormous boost – and all thoughts are gearing towards Royal Ascot.

‘He’s good and he is cantering away,’ said Owen. ‘He looks great and we are looking forward to the flat season ahead. The Hardwicke Stakes is the plan for him and he will have one run somewhere before, we haven’t decided where yet. There are plenty of options for him.

‘We are very lucky to have him and hopefully we will have some nice days with him. He is only a Listed winner, remember. I know he finished second in the Derby but he has got lots of options. He is a good horse.’

Mention of Epsom led Owen to disclose that Wimbledon Hawkeye – last season’s winner of the Royal Lodge Stakes – will be aimed at Epsom, with a prep run in the Dante Stakes at York. If the colt is sparkling in his work, he could be rerouted to the 2000 Guineas.

Skelton is not clear at the top just yet 

Lots of discussion recently about the race to win the Trainers’ Championship, with Dan Skelton – the current leader – nicely clear of his old-boss Paul Nicholls.

Skelton has amassed £2.3million in prize money so far; Nicholls (£1.7m) has had some nice winners lately, while third-placed Nicky Henderson is on £1.4m. Many would have you believe Skelton is in a position akin to Liverpool in the Premier League at this stage.

In sport, however, there are no foregone conclusions and even though Willie Mullins is way down in 60th position – with just £178,860 accrued so far, thanks to nine winners from 32 runners – the situation could change dramatically.

The prize money on offer through March and April – with Cheltenham, Aintree, Ayr and Sandown staging the meetings that matter – is colossal and both Mullins and Henderson are ready to unleash their battalions. Skelton has every reason to feel the breath of his rivals on his neck.

Thriller in the Saudi Cup 

Regular readers will remember we highlighted the $20million Saudi Cup last week as something that was going to make for essential viewing on Saturday and it didn’t disappoint: Japan’s Forever Young just got the better of Hong Kong’s Romantic Warrior in a thunderous finish.

If you haven’t watched it, enjoy these three minutes.

The pair were miles clear of the rest and they captured the essence of what makes horse racing so thrilling and fascinating. Neither horse flinched, neither jockey gave an inch. It would be fascinating to see them go at it again in the Breeders Cup Classic, back in Del Mar, in November.

Some people decry international racing and think it lacks interest. Days such as this prove it to be their loss.