The Jukebox Man shaping up to be Redknapp’s greatest hit

Boxing Day has always been a key date in the calendar for Harry Redknapp and this year it will take on extra significance as he prepares to bid for King George glory with The Jukebox Man.

Having guided Portsmouth to win the FA Cup and Tottenham Hotspur into the Champions League during the course of his distinguished 34-year career in the dugout, the 78-year-old knows a thing or two about major sporting achievements.

Explaining how his passion for horse racing was sparked at an early age in the heart of the East End of London, he said: “I’ve loved racing all my life, I grew up with it. Not so much being around horses, but my nan used to take bets off all the old girls in our street.

“People forget there were no betting shops, betting was totally illegal. The only way you could get a bet on was through an illegal bookmaker and Cyril the paper boy – who was about 70 then but he was still called the paper boy – he was the bookmaker, so my nan would collect the bets and pay out the next day.

“The only way you got the results was sitting in front of the radio at 6pm, my nan would scribble them down so she knew who had won and who had lost.”

When asked what his grandmother would think of him owning a genuine contender for the King George VI Chase, he added: “I don’t think she’d believe it – it would be a far cry from the East End of London and getting slung in the back of a police van every other day!”

The undoubted highlight of Redknapp’s ownership journey so far has been the Cheltenham Festival success of the superbly named Shakem Up’arry in the 2024 Plate, trained like The Jukebox Man by Ben Pauling in Naunton, Gloucestershire.

Less than 24 hours later, he came agonisingly close to a Prestbury Park double when The Jukebox Man was beaten a head in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle, a reverse Redknapp admitted he still finds painful to this day.

He said: “A guy on TV the other day said ‘Harry Redknapp keeps buying good horses, he never buys a bad one’. Sandra fell off the settee laughing! We’ve got a list as long as your arm, but when you get a good one you’ve got to enjoy it.

“Having a Cheltenham winner was always a dream and we could have had two with The Jukebox Man when he just got chinned on the line. That was like being 2-0 up going into extra time, the fourth official has put up three minutes and suddenly bang, bang and the dream has gone!

“Football is my life and going to a cup final or a big game is always special, but I’m at the stage now where if it’s going to watch a football match or have a day at the races I’ll go racing.”

A £70,000 purchase, The Jukebox Man has taken his career to another level over fences, most notably securing Grade One success in the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase over the King George course and distance on Boxing Day at Kempton Park last year.

Missing the rest of the season through injury was a huge disappointment, but with a recent comeback success at Haydock suggesting he has lost none of his dash, Redknapp is right to believe has “realistic” hopes of winning one of the National Hunt racing’s most coveted prizes.

“To be honest when Ben bought The Jukebox Man you hope he’s going to be all right, but he’s outgrown all our expectations. To go for a race like the King George with a horse that has a realistic chance is fantastic,” he said.

While brilliant on the racecourse, The Jukebox Man does have his quirks at home, with Pauling recently saying: “His stable is his kingdom. If you come anywhere near that and you’re not paying attention you can lose a finger.”

Redknapp – whose long list of achievements also includes being crowned ‘King of the Jungle’ after winning I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! in 2018 – agrees, saying: “When you go in his box he’s a bit of a Julian Dicks, I think, he’d bite you and kick you and he doesn’t care, he’s definitely got a bit of devilment in him!

“When we get to the track hopefully he runs like Gareth Bale! Off he goes, that’s the plan!”

As much as Redknapp would love to win the King George for himself, he also hopes it can help elevate Pauling’s career to the next level as he bids to break into the sport’s elite band of trainers.

He added: “I always think being a racehorse trainer is like being a football manager. There’s trainers out there that I’m sure could do fantastic, but they’re trying to win races with horses that cost £3,000 or £4,000 against people that are buying horses for £300,000 or £400,000.

“I love Pep (Guardiola), but you’ve got a chance when you’re buying the best players.

“At the moment in jumps racing you’d have Willie Mullins, Paul Nicholls, Nicky Henderson and Dan Skelton in the Champions League and Ben is probably in the Europa League looking to get into the Champions League, that’s where he’s going.

“It would be great for Ben if he could get a King George win and it would be great for me. I’m not sitting here thinking we’re going to win, but I do lie in bed sometimes dreaming of him jumping the last and taking it up and going clear.”