With Cheltenham 2025 on the horizon, PPTVs Rob Catterson sat down with Ruby to reflect on some of his Cheltenham Festival mounts and horse racing legends that helped Ruby become the best national hunt jockey ever.
From Annie Powers’ day of redemption to Kauto Stars’ crowing moment in the 2008 Cheltenham Gold Cup, Ruby relives some of his greatest Cheltenham Festival victories.
Big Buck’s
I tell you where I start with him. I nearly got sacked over him.
He ran in a 2m2f novice chase in Newbury, and he broke fences. His trainer Paul Nicholls went ballistic, he was going mad. He thought that this was his Arkle Chase horse that year. I’d given him too much to do and didn’t force him enough to make him jump.
It was Kruguyrova of Charlie Egerton that beat me, and he went on to place in the Arkle. But he then went to the King Maker. Christian Williams rode him and he got beaten. He then ended up running in a novice handicap chase at Cheltenham. Nick Schofield rode him.
He was fifth or sixth and I rode another for Paul in the race that fell. Then I won the 3m novice chase on him at Aintree. It wasn’t a Grade 1 back then.
Back To Hurdling
He fell in the Hennessy Gold Cup that Autumn with Sam Thomas on board and then went back hurdling at Cheltenham and never looked back. He was never a chaser. He had his own way of jumping, and it wasn’t good. He jumped poorly when he won at Aintree and in the Hennessy Gold Cup before that. He just wasn’t a chaser; he couldn’t move his feet quickly enough. Back over hurdles, won first time up at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day. Then beat Punchestowns in the Cleeve Hurdle, getting weight from him.
He then turned up against Punceshtowns, the good French horse Kasbah Bliss, who had won a Prix du Cadran and Big Buck’s beat them in the World Hurdle when he was the outsider at 6/1. He trotted through the last, but never looked like getting beaten.
He was a remarkable horse because the older he got, the better he got, and the more straightforward he became. At the end of his career, you could make the running on him, but at the start, as soon as he got to the front, he would stop and just pull up. But the more he raced, the more he won, the more confident he became.
He ended up being an incredible horse. He won four World Hurdles, and although he may not have looked like he was always going to win, he never felt like he was going to be beaten.
I Went Left And He Went Right
The most memorable win was probably the one over Voler La Vedette. He loved a bit of company, and to be fair, I rounded off the bend to the middle of the track, and Andrew Lynch went left, so I went across to him.
You’re looking forward and having a glance over and a glance back, but as soon as I went left, Andrew went right. I copped it straight away, but I was too close to the hurdle, so I had to jump the hurdle and then go back to her.
It was a great bit of riding from Andrew Lynch, but I just got back to Voler La Vedette and won a length. He was brilliant. He could have been a good Flat horse. Jumping made Master Minded a better horse, and jumping made Hurricane Fly a better horse,
but jumping actually made Big Buck’s a worse horse
He would slow down to jump. So every hurdle he came to, he would slow down, so you had to build him back up again. Jumping actually disimproved Big Buck’s.
Injury prevented him from winning five World Hurdles, but I always refer horses to athletes. That is the story of many athletes’ lives; injury has stopped athletes from doing something, and the same goes for horses.
He had 13 runs in France before winning 18 in a row in England and four World Hurdles. He ran a lot of times, so you can’t be greedy.
A brilliant horse.
Paddy Power is now Non Runner Money Back for the 2025 Cheltenham Festival. That means that if your selection does not line up in the race you back it in for any reason – you will now get your stake back. TC’s apply.
*Paddy also has the more traditional ante-post market where you will lose your stake if your selection doesn’t run in the race for whatever reason.
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