Paul Townend: 'We're expected to win every day we go racing - for Cheltenham, it's just that on steroids'
Champion jockey Paul Townend talks to Ireland editor Richard Forristal
We're meandering towards the conclusion of our conflab in the sumptuous confines of the Lyrath Estate Hotel on the outskirts of Kilkenny city when Paul Townend says something irreverent that makes me pause for thought.
The conversation has veered on to his duel with Jack Kennedy for the Irish jockeys' championship. Kennedy has been plagued with injuries so this is the first decent run he has had at it and plenty of neutrals have been willing him over the line.
However, the Willie Mullins-fuelled Townend spectre looms large, ominously bearing down on the pretender as the spring festivals come into sight.
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