IN THE WEEK of Punchestown, the climax of the National Hunt season, jockey Robbie Power is thinking of Liverpool. For diehard Reds like him, the next fortnight could be seismic.
Racing is his life, riding now his livelihood. But Power did not dream of Gold Cup glory on the playing fields of Agher Park. Along a quiet country road, four miles from Summerhill, the boys around South Meath got their kicks from playing soccer. For idols, they looked further afield: Liverpool FC and the goal-scoring gods of Anfield Road.
“My boyhood hero was Ian Rush,” says Power, 37 this year and still a believer. “The atmosphere on Champions League nights at Anfield is unbelievable. You couldn’t recreate it anywhere else.”
Winners are always the priority in racing. For a jockey, the first home makes all. During his career, Power has scaled the greatest heights: Grand National on Silver Birch in 2007, Cheltenham Gold Cup on Sizing John in 2017. His achievements have brought him into contact with a host of soccer stars.
Rush is one of many he meets. Typically, conversations are hinged on one line of enquiry: ‘When’s your next winner?’
Power has grown accustomed to the company of Liverpool greats. Racing brings them together. Legends such as Rush and more recent stars – Robbie Fowler, Steve McManaman, Michael Owen – enjoy a day at the races as much as Power relishes the chance to watch his favourite team play the beautiful game.
“Rush is a big racing fan,” Power reveals. “He’s good fun. He’s been over to Galway and Killarney, and Punchestown as well. It’s great to meet your sporting heroes. Any of the players I’ve met, they have great respect for what I do, as much as I respect what they do.”
While their sporting spheres are worlds apart, these two pursuits enjoy rapport. Stars whom Power idolised as a child of the 1980s share his disdain for a common ailment of the current game: “It annoys some of the older players to watch the modern day footballer. They’d often be amazed the way a jockey, when he’s smacked off the ground, gets up straight away. They could be watching a game and some player is rolling around on the ground, and nothing wrong with them.
“As a jockey, you’re your own boss. If you want to lie down and play soft, you’re not going to get paid. So there’s no gain in lying down.”
Still and all, Power’s pain weighed heavy after Cheltenham. Not that he knew, but he had been carrying the load of two fractured vertebrae. A jockey of his standing would not contemplate stepping down. So he rode through the week and then took time to consider what was ailing him.
“I struggled through Cheltenham,” Power admits. “I had to take two weeks off afterwards and I was lucky I got back for Aintree.”
Liverpool’s cherished track has been a happy hunting ground. At Aintree, he partnered Silver Birch to victory in the 2007 Grand National, a win that put novice trainer Gordon Elliott on the map (Elliott had not trained a winner in Ireland at that stage). This year, Power did not get his hands on the big prize but finished the three-day festival as leading jockey with wins on Lostintranslation (Mildway Novices Chase), Reserve Tank (Mersey Novices Hurdle) and Supasundae (Aintree Hurdle).
This week at Punchestown, Power is excited by prospects. On Friday, he will again pilot Supasundae, who goes in the BETDAQ Champion Hurdle, bidding to defend the two mile crown.
“He never gets the credit he deserves,” Power insists. “He always was a favourite of mine. He always tries his best and he comes into his own in the spring. He has a great attitude to the game as well. He won at Aintree, came back and within a week he had put on 16 kilos. Nothing fazes him. He’s well able to do the big festivals. Last year he did Cheltenham, Aintree and Punchestown.”
The nine-year-old should give Power a few more good spins around the track. They clearly enjoy each other’s company, though the rider does not flatter to deceive: “When he retires, he’ll be Razor [Neil] Ruddock anyway — fat as a fool. I met Razor recently in Clonmel and he was telling how he used to hate training but loved being out on the pitch. That’s what Supasundae is like. He’d give you very little feel at home. He lights up when he goes to the racecourse. The atmosphere brings it out in him. That was the same for Razor.”
The final week of the National Hunt season means days are getting longer. Power drives from Moynalvey to Moone each morning, clocking at least an hour in the car. Travelling from his home in South Meath, he lands before eight at Jessica Harrington’s yard in South Kildare. He rides out until twelve, working three or four horses, and then heads for Punchestown, whiling away his idle hours until the racing starts.
The opening day of this year’s Festival brought a winner: 12/1 shot Pearl Of The West for local trainer John McConnell in the Killashee Handicap Hurdle. Racing resumes today at 3.40pm but tonight, Power will be more concerned about what time he gets off. His final race is due to start at 7.10pm and Liverpool begin the first leg of their Champions League tie, away to Barcelona, at 8pm.
On match nights, he prefers his own company. Showered and changed, Power will head for home. While this Kopite may miss most of the first half, he will watch the rest of the game in the comfort of his sitting room.
Luckily for him, daughter Emma is obliging. 7.30pm is bedtime for the six-month-old, firstborn of Robbie and Hannah, who has been an angel since she arrived: “She hasn’t woken up during any matches yet. She sleeps from 7.30 at night until 6.30 in the morning. A lot of other people, who are parents, are so jealous that we have a child who sleeps. She probably knows her daddy works very hard during the day.”
One day, Emma might find out what it means, watching sporting icons on big screens. Or perhaps her father will explain it. All his great winners have been preserved on modern mediums. Better still, he can describe those moments from both sides: “The closest I’ll ever get to experiencing what it’s like to score a goal at Anfield is walking back into the winners enclosure after riding the winner of the Gold Cup at Cheltenham.”
Power continues: “If you ride a winner in Cheltenham and you’re walking back down the chute or walking into that winners enclosure, it’s probably like Salah scoring a goal in front of the Kop. The atmosphere is generated at you in Cheltenham. When you’re in Anfield, you’re part of the atmosphere, you’re in the crowd. I like both. I like being in the atmosphere and I also like when the atmosphere is being generated at me.”
Robbie Power is fortunate that he still enjoys the best of both worlds. To score in Punchestown, at this time of year, is exhilarating. Next week he heads for Anfield, to be a home fan in the crowd, with the same hopes in his heart.
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