In our exclusive interview, the top jockey also discusses the Willie Mullins banker who will now miss the Festival, the life of a freelance jockey during Festival week and his best bets for Cheltenham.
Jockey Sean O’Keeffe believes two-time Gold Cup winner Galopin Des Champs still has another big performance left in him at the Cheltenham Festival.
Willie Mullins’ star chaser has twice won the Cheltenham Gold Cup but it is Fact To File who currently leads the Cheltenham betting for the Festival’s feature race.
In our exclusive interview, O’Keeffe also discusses all the big races at the Festival and provides some of his best bets.
You rode Galopin Des Champs in the Martin Pipe in 2021 – does he have another Gold Cup win in him?
There’s still definitely another performance in him, one more big day, if not more. He’s not a very old horse. He’s 10 and still at an age where he can do it. I think he still has the enthusiasm at home.
He didn’t have the prep run before Christmas and he probably had a hard enough race for his first run in the Savills Chase, so maybe that left a little bit of a mark at the DRF.
There could be reasons why you could say he hasn’t shown his best this year yet, rather than saying he’s past it. I think he can turn back up.
It is probably a wide-open Gold Cup and there’s younger legs against him. But I think, at the end of the day, if he can bring back his best performance and as the best horse in the race, I wouldn’t rule out Willie (Mullins) getting another big performance out of him.
It will come, but maybe it won’t happen until Punchestown, but everyone would love to see it happen in Cheltenham to lift his third Gold Cup.
Fact To File entered in the Ryanair. But there’s obviously lots of talk about supplementing him for the Gold Cup. That’s where he’s got to go, surely?
On that run in Leopardstown, it would be a real pity not to see him in the Gold Cup. I think it showed that he can stay. It was an exceptional performance; it was a strong and very deep race.
I rode in it and I thought we went a strong gallop everywhere. It rode like a proper Grade 1, three-mile chase. There was no hiding place, and he seemed to just jump and travel easy. He’s probably a horse that always has that ability and promise.
He probably always brings a very good run to Cheltenham as well, winning the Ryanair last year and the Brown Advisory in 2024 as well as being second in the Champion Bumper.
He always brings his best runs to Cheltenham so I would definitely like to see him have a crack at the Gold Cup. But the Ryanair is probably there for the taking as well!
Fact To File travelled so well leaving the back straight and he was able to kick on and find more from the back of the last, which maybe he hadn’t done on too many occasions before in Leopardstown. He seemed to pick up and go and see it out really strong to the line. I think that was exceptional.
What’s your sense going into Cheltenham? Every jockey must be buzzing at the prospect. What’s the feeling about the Festival this year?
Excited. To me the build-up to Cheltenham is a bit like Christmas. The whole season, everything is gearing towards it. But I suppose you’re just hoping too that we all get there and get back in one piece, and all the horses do as well.
The hope is you will have a few rides but you’re never certain what you might be on. So, you’re always a bit on edge and waiting to see what will happen and hopefully you will get a bit of luck when you’re over there.
Will you be riding Thedeviluno?
I should think so. Paul Nolan will have a few horses going over. Thedeviluno and Feet Of A Dancer who I won on board both at Doncaster in January are probably two that I’ll be looking forward to.
I imagine Thedeviluno will go in the Albert Bartlett after winning over three miles. That will look up his street now.
His form ties in there with Doctor Steinberg, who beat him at Navan before Christmas. Looking back on it now, it was a cracking run, and Doctor Steinberg has proved that – he’s favourite for the race. So, it won’t be simple to turn things around, but we weren’t far off that day on very heavy ground.
I think ours has improved plenty but so will have Doctor Steinberg. He’s one to be looking forward to for the week.
And will you be riding Feet Of A Dancer?
It’s not certain which race she’ll go for yet. She’s in the Mares’ Hurdle and the Stayers’ and maybe the Coral Cup as well. But she’s a very consistent mare. I was looking forward to riding her there last year, but things probably didn’t work out to plan in the race, although she ran very well
She’ll always be bang in there and wherever she turns up in, she’ll give her best and hopefully it won’t be too far away.
It’ll be tough in the Grade 1s but she’s a very consistent mare and she won’t be far away no matter where she goes.
Is Lecky Watson, who you rode to success in the Brown Advisory last year, coming back?
He hasn’t reached the same levels this year yet. He ran well at Christmas and better than maybe what his finishing position even says on the day.
We weren’t beaten overly far and were right in the mix there going to the last fence. So, I think that was a good run. The ground was yielding that day. Hopefully on the Spring ground he can come back to more of himself.
I wouldn’t be ruling him out yet, no matter where he goes in the spring.
Where do you think he might go? The Gold Cup would be a big ask, wouldn’t it?
It probably is now on the back of his runs. He’s in the Grand National as well and he’s a nice weight in the National. I’m not sure what the definite plan is with him.
What’s your hand looking like elsewhere? Or is it a wait and see game?
I suppose it’s wait and see really. Paul has a nice few horses entered. I’m not 100% sure on what else will go and for what races, but hopefully I’ll be over there for the weekend and see what Willie has in and maybe I’ll pick up a few rides. Hopefully I will!
When you get on any of Willie’s you never know, he’ll always have a chance.
In the Gold Cup, there are two English horses – The Jukebox Man and Jango Baie heading the market. It’s unusual to see. There’s Haiti Couleurs too, if Rebecca Curtis decides to put him there. What’s your reading of the race?
It’s a cracking looking Gold Cup. I do like The Jukebox Man. He’s a very good horse and an exceptional jumper of a fence. He’s probably the best hope for Britain.
Haiti Couleurs is very consistent and high level but might be vulnerable to a classy type of horse. Don’t forget Willie has Galopin Des Champs who you can’t rule him out coming back again.
Gaelic Warrior ran a cracker at Kempton where the ground was probably plenty dry for him. Then he ran a cracker in Leopardstown again after running a little bit keen.
It’s a wide-open Gold Cup and it’s great to see some of the British horses there.
It’s hard to know how well Jango Baie might stay with the distance stretching him. But maybe it could bring out the best in him.
A lot of the big races are going to be more open than we are used to. That will make it all the more exciting for punters and viewers.
The opener is obviously the Supreme and then the Arkle. Nicky Henderson has a strong hand in both with Old Park Star and Lulamba. What do you make of those races, especially Old Park Star from what you’ve seen?
I was really impressed with him in Haydock. He really impressed down the home straight and the way he opened up to the last hurdle, as well as the way he jumped and galloped to the line.
He reminds me a little of an Altior. When I saw him at Haydock, I thought, ‘Jeez, it’s going to take a good one to beat him.’
When I look at the race, it’s so competitive. The Irish horses bring a very strong level of form as well – Talk The Talk and Ballyfad, King Rasko Grey and El Cairos. But I’d be afraid they might be just a little bit below Nicky’s horse.
The only one that I think is a little bit unknown as to how good he could be, is Mighty Park, JP’s horse at Willie’s. He could be a little bit freakish.
That’s what it’ll probably take to beat Old Park Star. But really, I wouldn’t be going against Old Park Star. He looked so impressive at Haydock. He could be the next kind of super star for Nicky.
And the Arkle?
I think it’s a cracking race again. I think Romeo Coolio will be vulnerable in an Arkle. I think he’s got away with two miles twice now. But he hasn’t got away with it against a horse the level of Kopek Des Bordes or Lulamba.
Kopek Des Bordes is an exceptional horse, and he’s taken the fences well. He obviously doesn’t have the experience with only the one chase run. But I think Lulamba may want a bit further in trip.
Kopek Des Bordes will have him on the back foot. I think he’ll have them all on the back foot actually!
He’s a very, very good horse and he’s made for fences. I think he’s going to bring out a better horse than what we’ve even seen over hurdles. He was a banker for me last year and I think it’ll be hard to go against him again. I fancy him that way again.
The Champion Hurdle, there’s all sorts of speculation about who, what, when, why, most of it surrounding a horse called Constitution Hill. He’s not running. Your thoughts?
It must have been a very hard decision. But the biggest fear was obviously if something happened and you ran him knowing the warnings that he’d given out.
He was unreal at Southwell, and it reminded everybody of how good a horse he is. I think he could go wherever they want to go on the Flat. He’s that good.
I’d have loved to see him in a Champion Hurdle. I suppose the decision came after the schooling session with Yogi Breisner.
He’s exceptional. If he had turned up at Cheltenham and jumped, he’ll have taken all the beating.
If Lossiemouth turns up, she’ll win. I think she’s the measure of the rest of the horses in it. She always brings her best runs to Cheltenham as well and I think she seemed below herself in Leopardstown. I think she could turn the form around with Brighterdaysahead again, back at Cheltenham.
What has been your standout horse of the season so far?
From England, Old Park Star looks the standout, just from watching him.
One from Ireland. Majborough’s performance at the DRF was a ‘wow’ moment.
Which horse at Cheltenham would you like to ride if you could have the pick?
I’d love to ride Kopek Des Bordes. Obviously, there’s bigger races and in the Gold Cup it would be harder to decide. I think he’ll go there and win. He’d be a thrill to ride as well.
You mentioned The Jukebox Man, owned by Harry Redknapp. He’s great for the sport, isn’t he?
Racing needs those sort of characters with a very high profile.
He seems to wear his heart on his sleeve. Anyone who brings racing exposure to a wider audience is great, just to try and get more people involved in racing that maybe wouldn’t take any interest in it.
What’s the biggest thrill of your life at Cheltenham?
My first winner on Galopin Des Champs was Covid year, so that took away from it a little bit – it was a surreal kind of a moment. Last year was class again with Lecky Watson. Any winner in Cheltenham is unbelievable. Hopefully we’ll have more to come in the future anyway.
A banker’s win double at the Festival?
I’ll go Kopek des Bordes in the Arkle and Lossiemouth.
A value each way treble?
I’d go with Sober in the Turner’s. He could be a good price. Irish Avatar in the Champion Bumper, his form is good. Then Thedeviluno, one of my own in the Albert Bartlett.
And any other fancies?
Paul Nicholls’ horse No Drama This End will be hard to beat wherever he runs. His form is pretty good.
What are your thoughts on Mark Walsh and Harry Cobden, and JP making his mind up to do a swap. What’s your opinion on that?
It’s not nice for Mark, but I suppose it’s hard to know what the full situation is. At the end of the season and when next season starts, we’ll see how it starts to pan out.
It’s definitely not affecting his riding. He’s riding better than ever. That’s probably the right way to react to anything. Let his riding do the talking. Mark has had an unbelievable few weeks and is riding out of his skin.
The DRF was a one to remember for him and JP obviously. What was your standout performance from Leopardstown? Was it Fact To File, Majborough or Narciso Has, who is going to miss Cheltenham?
Narciso Has was a good one for me. He was definitely a banker going to the Festival, so him being out would be a huge disappointment. He’s a very good horse. Probably just on performance alone, you’d have to say Majborough, from the DRF. What he did was unreal, jumping and putting everything else to the sword so far out.
He had everything beaten from a long way out. His jumping and the rhythm he got in took everything else out of their comfort zone.
Was it a surprise to you?
It wasn’t a surprise to anyone in Closutton who would have known he had that in him.
I knew he could jump well; I think the issue for him had been his concentration.
He’s always had loads of scope and is very quick through the air, but he’d probably just lose concentration and forget to shorten at a fence at times.
I think the cheekpieces seemed to work the trick that way. He just focused on his jumping. I knew the engine was there, he has a huge engine. For a horse that stays really well, he has such a high cruising gear that he can do that over two miles. He’s a horse that can definitely stay two and a half miles, maybe even further too.
An ideal Champion Chase horse then for the Festival?
If he brings the performance he produced in Leopardstown, he’ll take a lot of beating. He has been a bit inconsistent, so it’ll be hard to put all your money on him now but if he brings that run from Leopardstown, I don’t think there’s anything beating him.
Do you think Willie Mullins is going to have another dominant Cheltenham?
There’s a sense that it might be a bit more even this year. It’s going to be a terrific Cheltenham. Just looking through the fields, there’s not the short-priced favourites in many of the races that we’re used to seeing.
There’s plenty of good races, plenty spread across the horses in England and Ireland. Gordon Elliott is having a fantastic year, and he had plenty of horses going there with big chances.
You can never rule out Henry de Bromhead when it comes to Cheltenham.
He stays under the radar but seems to freshen them up a bit since Christmas. He always seems to get them right for Cheltenham.
The English trainers like Nicky Henderson, Dan Skelton and Ben Pauling have a big spread of horses as well. I think it’ll be a very exciting Cheltenham.
You could say some of Willie’s are maybe coming in under the radar as well. Maybe they haven’t been fully firing all winter. There are probably some horses at Willie’s that are better than what they’ve ran.
So, they could come up and surprise as well. It’s set to be an exciting year at Cheltenham.
Is Mullins still the man to beat or can Gordon challenge him?
I still think Willie will be the man to beat.
Gordon has plenty of good horses going. But I’m sure there’s plenty of horses at Willie’s that we haven’t seen the best of yet.
It’ll all be very competitive. The Supreme is going to be a cracking race, one of the races of the Festival. Trying to pick the winner of that now is very tricky.
In terms of Gordon coming back, what would it mean if he won the Irish trainers title?
He’s going to give it a good crack this year. There’s a resurgence in his yard with plenty of bumper horses and novice hurdlers – that should set him up for the next few years. He’s going to have plenty of horses to step up into novice chasers, top chasers and hurdlers.
He’s been trying to be champion trainer for years. He’s been very unlucky to be in the same era as Willie Mullins.
It will be very hard for him to do. But he’s making it very interesting.
If Willie has a brilliant Cheltenham and Aintree, do you think he’ll give it a go in Britain as well and try to chase down Dan Skelton?
It does depend on what happens over Cheltenham and Aintree.
He’ll probably need something spectacular to happen as Dan seems in a very strong position. He’s obviously having a fantastic season, and he’ll be hard to peg back.
But one thing we’ve all learned is never to doubt Willie Mullins or rule out him pulling off something magical.
