Jockeys & Trainers / Wayne Bailey / 30 December 2008 / Leave a comment

At just 18 years of age, Paul Townend is one of the most exciting National Hunt jockeys to emerge in recent years, and could well become the next big thing writes Irish racing correspondent Wayne Bailey...

Every time a young jockey wins a race, somebody somewhere is likely to utter the words 'the next big thing'. Of course, the cold reality is that most young jockeys won't become the next big thing; if they don't quit for another job, they'll become middle of the road jockeys, good at what they do but not outstanding. Put simply, there's not much room at the top. But I've been watching Paul Townend riding in Ireland recently and am confident that he can indeed be the next big thing.

They say that every difficulty presents an opportunity, and when Ruby Walsh ruptured his spleen, it was a big blow for both the Paul Nicholls yard at Ditcheat and the Willie Mullins yard in County Carlow. Ruby has been a fantastic servant to both trainers, and has a great ability to juggle two top-class jobs. With Ruby out of the saddle, opportunities arose for both Sam Thomas in the Nicholls yard and all the other jockeys in the Mullins yard. Unfortunately for Thomas, he hit a bad spell of riding at the worst possible time, but in stark contrast over in Ireland, Townend took some of Ruby's jobs - and really shined brightly.

Townend grew up around horses and was well known in County Cork for his abilities on the pony circuit. He says that the buzz from riding ponies gave him a taste of what it's like to win, and it became inevitable where his career path would take him. Significantly, he also has experience in show jumping, and this experience helps him in racing to control horses at different speeds under difficult conditions.

He started riding as an apprentice on the flat, and came third in his first race on board Temlett. A couple of weeks later, he had two wins in four days thanks to some great riding on The Chip Chopman, trained by Seamus O' Donnell. In the second of those victories, Townend's talents really showed as the horse was carrying a 5lb penalty for his previous win and looked beaten in the closing stages. The jockey got stuck in, and while it's unfair to compare him to McCoy, he 'carried the horse' over the line as McCoy has done on countless occasions.

In the 2007 Galway festival, a gamble developed on Emily Blake and the horse was backed into favouritism. The pressure was on Townend but backers need not have worried as he kept a cool head, gave a great ride and won comfortably.

Townend felt that the pressure of having to keep the weight down for the flat was not worth all the trouble, and made the decision to concentrate on National Hunt riding, where he can manage his weight without much problem. He was put firmly on the National Hunt map at the 2008 Galway festival when winning the Galway Hurdle on Indian Pace, trained by John Kiely.

Since then, he's been firing the winners home on a regular basis, and he really caught my eye at Leopardstown this Christmas, most notably on Hurricane Fly, a horse that looks like a top class prospect. It was quite amusing for us spectators to watch the scenes after both Neptune Collonges and Snowy Morning fell in the Lexus Chase, leaving both Ruby Walsh and Townend sitting on the ground. Townend, simply following the rules, waited by for an ambulance - but Ruby decided he wasn't hanging around and grabbed Townend's horse Snowy Morning and rode his way back. These guys are tougher than they look, and would put certain roll-on-the ground footballers to shame!

While he's excellent over hurdles, he's particularly noteworthy over fences where he shows a 24% strike-rate and a profit thus far to Betfair SP (although the sample is small).

As I say, it's all too easy to call someone the next big thing, but I'm fairly sure we'll be hearing the name Paul Townend a lot more in 2009 and beyond.