Who Will Win The 2024/25 Jump Jockeys’ Championship?

Features | 23^rd October 2024

The hotly anticipated race to become Britain’s Champion Jump Jockey is underway, promising yet another thrilling battle to light up the coldest of winter months

Last season’s Jump Jockeys’ Championship went right down to the wire with the conclusion still uncertain as the campaign swung into its’ final week.

With no shortage of talented riders, it promises to be a compelling contest once more with Harry Cobden looking to fend off the rest of the pack and claim the prize for a second consecutive year. Sandown Park’s season finale may seem a long while away but it is a date that all British Jump Jockey’s will have etched into their memories.

With that in mind, here’s a look at the main pretenders to the throne.

Harry Cobden

Having got the better of a titanic tussle with Sean Bowen last time around, Harry Cobden will once again be gunning to see his name etched onto the Champion Jockey’s trophy next April.

The 25-year-old Somerset native claimed the title for the very first time last year, riding 162 winners at an impressive 22% strike rate.

Cobden remains the regular rider for fourteen-time Champion Trainer Paul Nicholls and can look forward to resuming his link-up with the likes of Bravemansgame, Stage Star and Stay Away Fay once more.

He will also receive plenty of support from emerging trainers Ben Pauling and James Owen; as well as continuing a partnership Dorset-based Joe Tizzard that dates back to Cobden’s time as a conditional jockey.

Having ridden just 26 winners since the Championship began in May, last year’s champion will need to move quickly to close the gap at the top of the standings to ensure he remains one of the favourites.

Sean Bowen

Runner-up last time around, Sean Bowen will be driven to avenge his narrow defeat at the hands of Harry Cobden in the 24/25 season.

The 27-year-old Welshman has seen his stock climb over recent years, culminating in a career best total of 156 winners during the last campaign.

Having assembled a significant lead through the early months of the Jockey’s Championship, Bowen was forced to watch from the sidelines after a fall at Aintree on Boxing Day left him with a serious knee injury, ruling him out of action until the middle of February.

That almost certainly cost him a first Jump Jockeys’ Championship, with Harry Cobden flying through January under the tutelage of Paul Nicholls and eventually overhauling the lead Bowen had assembled, prevailing by just 7 winners at Sandown in April.

This season could be different however and Sean Bowen enters the race as one of the main contenders, enjoying 62 winners already. He is guaranteed to be one of the busiest riders on the circuit, riding plenty for a multitude of different trainers.

Bowen believes his partnership with the growing Olly Murphy yard could be pivotal in providing him with a maiden Jump Jockey’s Championship.

Harry Skelton

After becoming the Champion Jump Jockey in 2021, Harry Skelton has continued to go from strength to strength yet has been unable to add another Jump Jockeys’ Championship to his mantlepiece.

The 2024/2025 season could well see this change though, with his brother and boss Dan Skelton racking up the winners throughout the first few months of the campaign.

The past few years have seen the duo become established at the very top of National Hunt Racing in Britain, typified by the success they enjoyed at this year’s Cheltenham Festival, combining for four winners during the week.

The 35-year-old currently sits in second place in the standings, having accumulated 57 winners at an incredible strike rate of 25%.

Many believe that he could be the one to disrupt the Cobden/Bowen battle we saw play out during the final months of last season.

James Bowen

The 23-year-old younger brother of Sean, James Bowen is another member of the Bowen family with Jump Jockey’s Championship aspirations.

James Bowen is one of the busiest jockey’s in Britain and has developed some powerful connections over the course of the last few years.

The youngest jockey to win the Welsh Grand National (at the tender age of 16), Bowen is closely associated with the Nicky Henderson yard as well as with his father, Peter’s operation back home in his native Pembrokeshire.

He recently claimed the first Graded race of the season aboard the super mare Flying Fortune for his father and sits in fourth place in the Jump Jockey’s Championship standings having amassed 37 winners from just 171 rides so far this campaign.

Brian Hughes

Brian Hughes is no stranger to success in the Jump Jockeys’ Championship, claiming the prize on three occasions between 2019 and 2023.

The Irish-born retained rider to Donald McCain was unable to retain his title last season, falling short of the totals he had achieved in each of the previous five seasons.

It was by no means a fallow year for the 39-year-old though, with 122 winners enough to secure a third placed finish in the Championship.

Hughes has made a steady start to the 2024/2025 season, guiding home 26 winners since May.

To challenge the main pretenders, however, he will need to make serious inroads over the course of the next few months and is well positioned to do so, garnering support from a plethora of powerful yards in the North of England.

Others to note…

The consistent Sam Twiston-Davies has made an excellent start to the season, currently finding himself in third place on 43 winners so far. Always a regular at the biggest of meetings, Twiston-Davies rides predominantly for his father Nigel after returning from a stint at Paul Nicholls’ yard at the end of 2018.

Gavin Sheehan is also expected to be right there and enjoyed perhaps his biggest success in the saddle on Boxing Day in 2023, riding Hewick to victory in the King George VI Chase at Kempton Park.

Both Jack Tudor and Tom Bellamy have enjoyed an excellent start to life in their respective new roles and sit within the top ten of the table, whilst David Bass is another name to note having taken the decision to leave Kim Bailey’s yard and go freelance in pursuit of greater opportunity elsewhere.

Any stable jockey to Nicky Henderson is likely to find themselves in the most privileged of positions with Nico De Boinville no exception. The experienced, multiple Grade 1 winner is likely to prioritise quality over quantity however.

If one thing is for sure, it is that this year’s Jump Jockey’s Championship will be full of thrills, spills and drama. Plenty of top-class riders will be gunning for Harry Cobden’s crown and the question is, can he hold on or will a new name find itself engraved on the Jump Jockey’s Championship trophy when Winter rolls into Spring?