Talk of equine aeroplanes can wait as, right now, Paul Townend is raving about fast cars and the day a dream came true.
Townend is the finest National Hunt rider of his generation, a man on the brink of history. As a stable jockey for the Willie Mullins yard, he is set to be festooned with prizes when the Cheltenham Festival ends on Friday — the one he craves most is a third straight Gold Cup on Galopin Des Champs.
For all his success — 148 Grade Ones, 34 Cheltenham wins, six Irish jockey championships, one win in the Grand National — Townend is comfortable flying under the radar but, ahead of the four days that matter most in racing, he has agreed to open up like never before.
So here he is, transporting himself back to Barcelona last June for what was a trip of a lifetime to the Spanish Grand Prix with close friend Danny Mullins. He shares the memories with infectious enthusiasm, revealing a giddiness that many would not expect a top sportsman to show.
‘We were like kids in a sweet factory, honest to God,’ Townend beams. ‘Just walking through the gates, seeing the village with all the hospitality and garages. Jesus, the speed they go! Lucky enough, we were in Red Bull hospitality… we were starstruck just looking at the menu!
‘We were having coffee, next thing Max Verstappen walks past me. Then Daniel Ricciardo sits down to have his breakfast. They are like what I thought jockeys were when I was growing up — superheroes and untouchable.
Paul Townend has outlined his desire to secure further glory at the Gold Cup
Townend is hopeful that he and Galopin Des Champs will be able to achieve further success
At the Spanish Grand Prix Townend got close to stars such as Max Verstappen
‘Did we ask for pictures? No, no. We didn’t get too close. We spoke to a few ex-drivers and things like that but we left the main boys alone. We met Charles Leclerc in one of the hotels. He was going down for dinner with his girlfriend. It was mad!’
Townend would not agree but he’s seen as a superhero now. When Galopin Des Champs won the Savills Chase at Leopardstown on December 28, it took him 20 minutes to make the 20-yard walk from paddock to weighing room as he signed every autograph and posed for every selfie.
‘You feel like a bit of a fraud, to be honest,’ he says, quietly. ‘But I love it when the kids come up because that was me not so long ago. I was that kid. I remember Jamie Moore (a Festival winner) coming to ride at Limerick one day and he gave me a pair of goggles.
‘I went to bed with them! Any jockey that gave me anything was like giving me lottery numbers as an adult. So I love seeing the kids and stopping to talk to them because I remember what I felt like when I met a jockey growing up. It just doesn’t feel like methey should be stopping for me.’
But they stop as Townend has done something nobody thought was possible: he stepped into the role vacated by Ruby Walsh, whom many regard as the best ever, and flourished. This, in some respects, is racing’s equivalent of Lewis Hamilton taking Michael Schumacher’s seat at Mercedes.
Hamilton went on to won six world titles from 2013, Townend delivered a first Gold Cup for Mullins, on Al Boum Photo, in 2019, and another three for good measure. The comparison between Formula One and racing is something he can see, not least because of the great risk and reward.
‘You’ve got to be mad to do both!’ he laughs. ‘Drive To Survive got me hooked. I was thinking about tactics and everything going on behind the scenes. It’s definitely relatable. There are only so many seats available, it’s very technical. I suppose in some way the race itself is the boring part.
‘If you watch a Grand Prix, you think it’s just a case of getting to the front, then going as fast as you can and you win. There are so many other parts and variables. The weather changes, the ground changes. Them getting the most out of their tyres is like us saving energy. It’s cool, like.’
Townend reflected on his hard work and learning from the likes of Ruby Walsh
Townend is studying form like a student cramming for exams, with nothing left to chance
Galopin Des Champs is a ‘special’ horse says Townend as he gets ready for his latest test
Townend has worked at the Mullins yard since he was 15, the age at which he lost his mother. Now 34, he is at his peak but do not think his position is to do with long-standing relationships; the owners he rides for expect results.
‘It is like a driver,’ he says. ‘If they don’t perform in the seat, they’re out, aren’t they? You’re there to do a job and that’s where your job is about luck as well. I had a good long run of it at the start of my career, watching Ruby and learning. So I had time but you have to put in the hours.
‘You make mistakes and people stand by you. Once you don’t make the same mistake again, it can be easily forgiven. You ride any horse for Willie, any day, you have to give feedback.
‘If he’s not at the races we speak before and after every race. If he asks you a question and you don’t have the answer he’s disappointed in you. That’s been instilled in me from the time I started. Willie keeps setting the bar higher and challenging himself every year. If he’s doing that, you have to do it, too, to be part of it.’
Rising to the challenge, however, is not a problem when you have the book of rides Townend has this week. Starting with Kopek Des Bordes in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, chances to win will come along as quickly as prizes on the Generation Game conveyor belt.
He has been winning at Cheltenham since a breakthrough in 2011 on a four-year-old hurdler called What A Charm and what a journey it has been for a man who, 12 months ago, became the first jockey since 1930 to do the Champion Hurdle, Gold Cup and Grand National treble in the same season. You would think he would be relaxed, then, but the pile of paperwork in front of him says otherwise. He is studying form like a student cramming for exams, with nothing left to chance. Why would he when Galopin Des Champs is poised to emulate three-time Gold Cup winners Best Mate and Arkle?
‘Anyone who tells you they don’t get nervous is telling you a lie,’ he smiles. ‘Or they’re not giving it the respect it deserves, I think. Nerves are good, once they’re channelled in the right direction. They give you an edge, make you sharper.
‘Tuesday morning in Cheltenham, when I come home from riding out, I’ll force myself to have a slice of toast but I won’t be eating the crust! That’s the nerves! Winning never becomes “the same” — if anything, it becomes more addictive. I know what I’ve got to ride but you try not to jinx it by saying the wrong thing before. You have got to go out to do it. You’re afraid to take it for granted that it’s already happened. But I’ll tell you this: Galopin is a special one.’
He is indeed. He is the horse with the Formula One engine — and Townend is in for the ride of his life.