Willie Mullins may have dominated the opening day of the Aintree Grand National Meeting with a barrage of Grade 1 winners. However, he wasn’t the only man who had cause to celebrate on Merseyside.
Turning to the men and women in the saddle, Harry Skelton recorded what must be the most lucrative fourth-place finish of his career aboard Boombawn in the opening Manifesto Novices’ Chase.
£6,630 for Connections. £500,000 for Harry
Whilst of limited significance to most observers, that fourth-placed effort was hugely consequential to Skelton. No doubt connections were reasonably happy to pick up £6,630 in prize money from the unfancied 22/1 shot. However, the gutsy display gave happy Harry half a million reasons to celebrate, courtesy of one of the most exciting new National Hunt initiatives.
Inaugural Winner of David Power Jockeys’ Cup
The Skelton bank balance will soon receive a £500,000 boost courtesy of the newly introduced David Power Jockeys’ Cup. Named in honour of the sadly departed co-founder of Paddy Power, this competition debuted in the 2024/25 National Hunt campaign and has added significant excitement to the televised jumping action.
Kicking off on Day 1 of the Cheltenham November Meeting and concluding at the end of Day 2 of the Grand National Festival, the competition awards performance-based points in all races shown live on ITV – 10 points for 1st, 8 points for 2nd, 6 points for 3rd, and 4 points for 4th.
At the end of the competition, prizes are awarded to the top 10 riders in the standings, with the top spot bagging that lucrative £500,000 first-place prize.
4 Points Creates Unassailable Lead
Skelton headed into the Manifesto Novices Chase with a 74-point advantage over Harry Cobden in second place and a 76-point cushion over Nico de Boinville in third. With de Boinville watching on from the stands and Cobden finishing out of the points in fifth, those leads increased to 78 and 80 points, respectively – a margin which was now mathematically impossible for either rider to bridge before the conclusion of racing on Friday.
Time to Celebrate
For a Skelton team which still leads the way in the British Trainers Championship, this result provided an early cause for celebration. Dan Skelton picked up £50,000 for his part in the victory, with the same amount shared amongst the team at his Warwickshire base.
When summing up the victory, Harry Skelton was quick to appreciate the value of the prize and the team that helped him to the top, “I’ve started a family now, and half a million pounds is an awful lot of money that can hopefully support my family for a long time. Anyone who has kids is trying to give them the best start in life, and this can really support that. But I want to enjoy this with a lot of the people who helped me get there; the owners, everyone. I’d like to get everyone together, everyone who helped me achieve this. It felt like a real team effort.”
But Work to Do in Jockeys’ Championship
Skelton may have won the races that mattered most in the David Power Jockeys’ Cup, i.e. those shown live on ITV, but he faces a surely insurmountable task if he is to claim the British Champion Jockeys’ Title for the first time since the 2020/21 campaign.
Unlike the prize money-based Trainers Championship, the Jockeys’ Championship goes to the rider with the most wins during the National Hunt campaign. Skelton has an impressive 131 wins in 2024/25 – 50 more than in 2023/24. However, that is only good for second spot behind Sean Bowen, who appears to have a first title firmly in his clutches with 163 wins on the board.
