Who are you tipping for leading rider at next month's Festival?

National Hunt racing takes centre stage when the Cheltenham Festival rolls around and many punters wager on the 28 races without realising there is another great market to explore. The Cheltenham Festival top jockey market is one of the more unique markets a punter can wager on during the four-day horse racing fixture. The four-day extravaganza is fast approaching and punters are researching the horses to run at Prestbury Park. Punters can use the bet calculator ahead of the races to receive bonuses, tips, and offers.The Cheltenham Festival top jockey market allows punters to wager on the jockey they believe will win the most races. In 2019, 20 different jockeys won races at the Cheltenham Festival. There are 28 races in total, meaning there is a good chance this year will see repeat winners once more. So, who are the top jockeys to follow at this year’s Cheltenham Festival?

Paul Townend

Paul Townend will be a jockey plenty of punters back at this year’s Cheltenham Festival. The Irishman won the 2019 Gold Cup and Arkle Challenge Trophy. Townend gets the pick of the rides from Willie Mullins’ stable, and you can expect Mullins trained horses to give Townend plenty of firepower to win this year’s top jockey award. Last season saw the retirement of famed Irish jockey Ruby Walsh. His exit from the sport led Mullins to name Townend the stable’s top man in the saddle.

Davy Russell

Davy Russell is a graduate from the ranks of Irish Point-to-Point racing, riding for 4 years as an amateur before moving to Yorkshire to work for the late Ferdy Murphy in 2002. Most recently, Davy won the top jockey award at the 2018 Festival. Last year, Russell failed to win a race at the Cheltenham race meeting, despite being given the mount of Tiger Roll in the Grand National 3 weeks later. Horse racing can be fickle and Russell’s lack of wins last season shows just how competitive the Festival races can be. Russel often rides for trainer Gordon Elliott and won the Gold Cup in 2014 with Lord Windermere. The jockey is expected to ride the highly praised Envoi Allen at Cheltenham this year. Barry Geraghty

Jockey Barry Geraghty is one of the top jockeys ever to ride at Cheltenham. Geraghty has a career win total of 38 at the Cheltenham Festival and in 2019, won the JLT Novices Chase and the Pertemps Final. Geraghty will ride for the JP McManus stable at this year’s Festival and will have an army of horses at his disposal. One of those horses will be Defi Du Seuil, who Geraghty rode to glory in the JLT Novices’ Chase last time around.

Rachael Blackmore

Rachael Blackmore headlines a growing list of female jockeys competing at the Cheltenham Festival. Jockey insiders believe Blackmore has the best opportunity of the female riders to win the top jockey honour thanks to her connection with the Henry de Bromhead yard. It is a strong stable of horses and Blackmore will have the chance to pick whichever horse and race she wants. She could be in the saddle of De Bromhead’s Aherlow, Minella Melody, and/or Minella Indo. All three are horses she has ridden to success previously. To say she is a star in the making is to diminish her performance to date; she is already a leading rider in Ireland and has a chance to stamp her authority on the British scene too.