With the 2026 Cheltenham Gold Cup fast approaching and punters studying the form guide ahead of the Festival’s blue riband event, two names on everyone’s lips are The Jukebox Man and Harry Redknapp.
The Gold Cup has made legends of the likes of Best Mate, Arkle, Kauto Star and Golden Miller and the former Tottenham Hotspur and Portsmouth manager is hoping his horse will follow them into the history books.
Irish-trained horses have dominated the last decade of the Gold Cup, winning eight of the last 10 editions but the British-trained eight-year-old bay gelding is getting a lot of attention this time around thanks to his King George success on Boxing Day.
– Cheltenham Festival: What to know, dates, races, horses, how to watch, prize money, more
– Gold Cup Day race times, weather, going, odds, favourites, more
The Jukebox Man: Pauling’s next Festival winner?
He has a name worthy of the big time and The Jukebox Man was identified early by Gloucestershire-based trainer Ben Pauling.
Pauling is one of the sport’s most exciting up-and-coming trainers, having first ventured into the notoriously difficult to crack business of jumps horse training in 2013.
He began with eight horses, primarily owned by friends and family, but 13 years later he now has a full-on stable in Naunton Downs and four Cheltenham Festival winners.
The Jukebox Man could be his best horse yet and Pauling is not the only one hoping he proves his class.
The Jukebox Man: Harry Redknapp’s star signing
Redknapp is accustomed to the watching on from the sidelines but his foray into the world of horse ownership was a step into the unknown.
The 79-year-old began investing with Pauling over seven years ago and the pair have struck up a glowing relationship which has started to bear fruit.
At the 2024 Cheltenham Festival, the duo combined as Shakem Up’arry won the Sun Racing Plate Handicap at Cheltenham. But their best was yet to come.
The offspring of British thoroughbred Ask (two-time Grade 1 winner) and American dam My Twist, The Jukebox Man has become the face of Pauling’s yard after being purchased for £70,000.
At the 2024 Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle, The Jukebox Man came within a head of a second Cheltenham triumph of the year for Redknapp and Pauling, when beaten to the line by 33/1 shot Stellar Story.
An injury ruled him out of returning to the Festival in 2025 but he bounced back in style at Kempton on Boxing Day — landing the Grade 1 King George VI Chase.
That statement victory has given both Redknapp and Pauling immense confidence that he can push on to the next step and claim Cheltenham Gold Cup glory.
Pauling, Redknapp hoping for 2026 Gold Cup glory
Redknapp has had a long affiliation with horse racing, revealing his grandmother would sometimes act as the ‘bookies’ in the east end of London when gambling was illegal.
Fast forward to 2026 and the former Premier League boss, now a prominent racehorse owner, has reached heights he never thought possible in the sport.
Now he travels back to Prestbury Park with a real chance of Cheltenham Gold Cup glory and although he is not getting carried away, he cannot help but get excited.
“It’s a dream to have a horse to run in the Gold Cup and go there with a chance,” Redknapp told Racing TV.
“I’ve had an awful lot of horses, still got an awful lot, but this one has taken us to places that you only dream about as a racehorse owner — he’s my dream, he’s not for sale and he wouldn’t be for sale at any price.
“I’m not saying we’re going to win it but we’ve got a serious horse, it’s an open race and I think we’ve got as good a chance as anything.”
Trainer Pauling is far more bullish on The Jukebox Man’s prospects.
He felt the King George win showed the heart his stable star has, while his speed to set the course record showed he can stay with the very best, potentially making the Gold Cup a race that suits him even better.
“People say he isn’t very quick, but it was a course record in the King George. I think the Gold Cup is a good race. He’s not a showman and he does what he has to do,” Pauling told Racing TV.
“Having a horse of his calibre in such good form going into the Gold Cup is extremely exciting.
“I’m hoping we can get him there in the form I know he can be, but I personally think it will be less of a test for him than the King George.
“It was only his tenacity and will to win the enabled him to get back in front at Kempton.
“He is uncomplicated and can operate just as effectively on any track, you have to be able to jump and travel and don’t want to be behind and missing fences when it will become hard work.
“I firmly believe he will stay and be much more effective over this longer trip than three miles.”
The Jukebox Man’s Gold Cup rivals
The Cheltenham Gold Cup is traditionally the most competitive race of the Festival and that is no different this time around, with plenty of top competitors for The Jukebox Man to contend with.
But the signs for Redknapp and Pauling are good — The Jukebox Man defeated three of his Gold Cup rivals in the King George: Gaelic Warrior, Jango Baie and Banbridge.
Unlike the Jukebox Man, though, Gaelic Warrior and Jango Baie have significant Cheltenham pedigree, having triumphed in the last two Arkles.
The positive omen for The Jukebox Man with his rivals’ Arkle wins, however, is that only one horse has ever won both the Arkle and the Gold Cup: Alverton (1978 and 1979).
Redknapp’s horse will not have to beat Cheltenham royalty after Galopin des Champs, winner of the 2023 and 2024 renewals, pulled out of the chance to regain his title, while 2025 winner Inothewayurthinkin bids to become the race’s ninth multiple champion.
A couple of longer shots in Grey Dawning, who won the 2024 Turner’s Novices Chase at Cheltenham, and Haiti Couleurs, the 2025 Irish Grand National winner, will also need beating.
