Top jockey Robbie Power set to call time on stellar career at Punchestown

Cheltenham Gold Cup and Grand National-winning rider Robbie Power has revealed he will bring a glorious career in the saddle to a close after partnering Teahupoo in the Paddy Power Champion Hurdle (5.25) at Punchestown on Friday.

Power was speaking to Katie Walsh on RTE television after making all on the Henry de Bromhead-trained Magic Daze in the Pigsback.com Handicap Chase in the Robcour colours.

"Teahupoo will be my last ride," he said. "There have been so many highlights that it's hard to pick one. The day Sizing John won his third Gold Cup here at Punchestown, beating Coneygree, that was as good a race as I ever rode in. I got a huge buzz out of that. There have been so many highs and I have had a wonderful career."

As for the decision to stop now, referring to his wife Hannah, he said: "In fairness to Hannah, she left it up to me, but the last couple of months have been torture with the hip pain and without Enda King in Santry and Niamh Guy, my physio, Dr Jennifer Pugh, Maria Kealy, John Butler, there have been so many people along the way who have helped get me through it.

"Hannah has been very understanding because I can be pretty grumpy at times."

Elaborating on the decision, he later added: "Injury, basically. I had my back operated on last summer and fractured my hip when I came back in October. I'm 41 next month so I'm not getting any younger. I had injections in my hip and it just didn't really work, so the last couple of months have been hard work."

Robbie Power celebrates his popular 2017 Cheltenham Gold Cup victory on Sizing JohnCredit: Edward Whitaker

Power, who has long been recognised as one of the most natural horsemen in the business, enjoyed a long association with Jessica Harrington, with whom he combined to win the Gold Cup aboard Sizing John during what was something of an annus mirabilis for them in 2017.

The partnership had already plundered the Irish Gold Cup en route to Cheltenham, and entered the history books when Sizing John became the first horse to complete a Gold Cup hat-trick in the same season by adding the Punchestown edition the following month.

They would return to land the John Durkan Memorial Chase that December, before injury began to plague the late Alan and Ann Potts-owned star.

Power and Harrington departed the Cotswolds with three winners that March, and the following month they combined for a runaway Irish Grand National success with the ill-fated novice Our Duke.

From Silver Birch to Sizing John: five of Robbie Power's best rides

"He's been a brilliant rider and had a fantastic career," Harrington said. "Robbie is unique because he can see a stride from one fence to the next.

"We've had a long and successful relationship with Barry Geraghty and Robert, and these guys are very hard to replace. Barry Geraghtys and Robbie Powers don't come along very often.

"Robbie rode his first ever winner for me here on a horse called You Never Told Me, owned by his mother, where he beat Ruby [Walsh] in a tight finish.

"We had some great days together but winning three Gold Cups with Sizing John was the highlight. I don't think any horse will ever do it again. There were some great days."

Robbie Power: jockey's calm authority saw him become one of the go-to big-race ridersCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Power's other marquee moment came when he steered Silver Birch to a famous 33-1 Grand National victory in 2007 for Gordon Elliott when he was just 25 years of age. He also enjoyed a lucrative triumph in the American Grand National for Elliott when they executed a bold transatlantic excursion with Jury Duty in 2019.

His Aintree opportunity aboard Silver Birch came about because Jason Maguire had other commitments, and the element of good fortune on a spare ride was some compensation for missing out on the Queen Mother Champion Chase-winning mount on Newmill in 2006 after he broke his foot in a schooling incident.

Power rode his first Cheltenham Festival winner aboard Bostons Angel in the 2011 RSA Chase, and checks out with four, having also excelled on Supasundae in the Coral Cup and Rock The World in the Grand Annual at the 2017 festival.

At the time of his Gold Cup win, Power was riding a lot of Colin Tizzard's horses, and his frequent forays across the Irish Sea saw him enjoy several big wins aboard horses like Lostintranslation, Finian's Oscar and Fox Norton.

His calm authority saw him become one of the go-to big-race riders, and, following Ruby Walsh's retirement at Punchestown in 2019, he got the call from Willie Mullins to step in aboard Chacun Pour Soi in the Ryanair Novice Chase, in which they beat the favourite Defi Du Seuil.

That was one of 31 Grade 1s Power won across a 21-year career that yielded 665 winners since he got off the mark aboard Younevertoldme for Harrington at Punchestown on December 19, 2001.

Elliott said: "He rode me a Grand National winner on Silver Birch back in 2007 and has been a great jockey. I'm delighted to see him going out somewhere he loves while at the top of his game."

"It's brilliant what he achieved over the years," De Bromhead said on Thursday after Magic Daze won. "He's been such a great guy to work with and I'm delighted to see him going out on his own terms. He's a great horseman, a brilliant rider and we've been very lucky to have some success with him. I'm so happy he won on this mare. He was brilliant on her and we'll miss him."

A man of many talents

Power's first landmark success came on the Paddy Mullins-trained Nearly A Moose in the 2003 Galway Plate when he was still claiming 3lb, and the following year he was crowned champion conditional rider.

A son of renowned international showjumper Con Power, his talents were not confined to racing. Successful in that sphere in his youth, Power returned to Hickstead in 2014 to partner Doonaveeragh O One to victory in the speed derby.

Power, whose catalogue of injuries is typically long and gruesome, spent four months on the sidelines in 2021 following back surgery and, having returned in October, 11 days later he suffered a horror fall from Hans Gruber at Tramore, breaking his nose and cheekbone, tearing tendons in his arm and fracturing his hip.

That kept him on the sidelines until the end of January, and he has ridden ten winners since his return and partners Silver Sheen and Teahupoo on Friday.

"The whole family is coming and I have some good rides, so I'm looking forward to it," Power said. "I was trying to keep it as quiet as possible. I didn't want a big fuss made. I think Brian Acheson [of Robcour] said he had a fair idea as well so to ride a winner for them is extra special.

"If Minella Indo had won the Gold Cup I probably would have gone then, but Punchestown has always been very good to me. I rode my first winner here so I'm guaranteed to ride my last winner here as well."

What they said

Paul Townend, jockey

"He's put in a fair shift after struggling with injuries lately. From the lads I started with, I'm starting to feel old in there now after he's gone. He's had a wonderful career. If a lot of people could do half what he did they'd be doing well."

Sir Anthony McCoy, 20-time champion jockey

"Robbie has got a great career to be very proud of. He won pretty much everything there is to win. He's obviously a hard worker but there's no doubt about his talent as a horseman. I've seen him showjumping and doing different things like that before and you can see his ability there. He's a real, natural horseman and a great lad."

Ted Walsh, trainer

"Robbie is a great fella. I've known him since he was a pup and he is a great rider. He could have been a success as a showjumper as well but he became a high-class jockey. I'd say he achieved everything he wanted to. He has Grand National and Gold Cup winners. Other than being champion jockey, he couldn't have achieved much more."

Read these next:

Owner swore at trainer, ranted at staff and made rude gestures at crowd

'I'm annoyed at myself for running Bob Olinger – I've no idea what the issue is'

The Front Runner is our latest email newsletter available exclusively to Members' Club Ultimate subscribers. Chris Cook, a four-time Racing Reporter of the Year award winner, provides his take on the day's biggest stories and tips for the upcoming racing every morning from Monday to Friday