Of the National Hunt jockeys still riding, Barry Geraghty, Richard Johnson and Ruby Walsh have all won the Cheltenham Gold Cup twice and will, no doubt, have further opportunities to win the race. That said, while none of the trio looks set to retire any time soon, Johnson turns 42, and Geraghty and Walsh both turn 40, in 2019, so they all have work to do to become the most successful jockey in the history of the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
As it stands, that honour belongs to the late Pat Taaffe, best known for his association with the legendary Arkle, trained by Tom Dreaper, who won the Cheltenham Gold Cup three years running in 1964, 1965 and 1966. Taaffe also won the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Fort Leney, again trained by Dreaper, in 1968 for a total of four wins in the premier steeplechase. Interestingly, Taaffe also won the Queen Mother Champion Chase and the RSA Chase five times apiece and all bar two of his 25 winners at the Cheltenham Festival came in steeplechases.
