Harry Redknapp has known tense afternoons before, but even a relegation scrap at Upton Park has nothing on waiting for the Kempton judge to call a photo.
On Boxing Day, the 78-year-old swapped the technical area for the owners’ and trainers’ stand and watched his The Jukebox Man win a vintage King George VI Chase by a nose, after one of the tightest finishes the race has seen in years.
From touchline to paddock
Redknapp’s second sporting life has been hiding in plain sight for some time. Long before The Jukebox Man lined up at Kempton, he had become a familiar figure in parade rings, building a small but increasingly successful team of jumpers in partnership with Naunton trainer Ben Pauling.
The previous high point came at Cheltenham in 2024, when Shakem Up’arry, another Pauling charge carrying Redknapp’s colours, landed the Plate Handicap Chase at the Festival.
Owning jumpers has clearly scratched a competitive itch. Redknapp retired from football management after leaving Birmingham City in 2017, but he has thrown himself into racing with the same enthusiasm that once powered transfer-deadline dashes.
There is a familiar pattern to it: spotting potential, trusting good judges, then riding out the ups and downs with optimism and gallows humour.
A proper King George
The King George VI Chase remains the midwinter measuring stick for top staying chasers, its three miles around Kempton’s flat, right-handed track sitting just behind the Cheltenham Gold Cup in prestige.
This year’s renewal drew a field of eight, headed in the market by Willie Mullins’ Gaelic Warrior and Nicky Henderson’s Ascot winner Jango Baie, with defending champion Banbridge back to defend his crown for Joseph O’Brien.
The Jukebox Man was sent off a 7-1 shot, reflecting respect for his profile rather than outright expectation. He arrived on a three-race winning streak, including success in the previous year’s Kauto Star Novices’ Chase over the same course and distance, suggesting Kempton’s sharp test suited his rhythm.
Officially rated in the high 140s and still only seven, he looked the type to bridge the gap from good novice to established Grade 1 performer.
From flagfall, the race unfolded like a proper King George. Il Est Francais adopted his usual forward role and bowled along happily, with The Jukebox Man never far away and Gaelic Warrior travelling strongly on the inner. For a circuit the tempo was steady, the field well stacked, the sense growing that this would turn into a sprint off the home bend rather than a war of attrition.
‘He’s come again’
Turning for home, all eight still had some sort of chance as the pace lifted. The Jukebox Man jumped the third-last with a narrow lead from Djelo, with Banbridge looming and Gaelic Warrior poised on the inside.
Over the second-last, four were virtually in a line. At the final fence, Banbridge just nosed ahead, Gaelic Warrior was rallying at the rail and Jango Baie was closing from behind, while The Jukebox Man seemed momentarily shuffled back to third.
“After he jumped the last, I thought he was going to finish fourth because they came to him from all sides,” Redknapp admitted afterwards. Ben Jones, riding in his first King George, had a different view in the saddle. He felt he had won by a head and punched the air crossing the line, only to be told the finish was much tighter than he realised.
The photo showed The Jukebox Man rallying between Banbridge and Gaelic Warrior to prevail by a nose, with Gaelic Warrior another short margin back in third and Jango Baie finishing fast into fourth.
The delayed announcement added another layer of drama. Redknapp was visibly shaking as he waited for the verdict and later said people were jumping on him before he actually knew he had won. When the result finally went his way, there was relief as much as celebration. “It is a dream, to have a horse that good is unbelievable. To come here on King George day and just run made me so proud, but to have the winner is special.”
Champions League day
Redknapp had framed the occasion neatly beforehand. “We’ve come into the Champions League today,” he said, under no illusions about the step up from good handicaps and novice races to a Grade 1 Christmas showpiece.
The win was worth £142,375 in prize money, comfortably the biggest return of his ownership career to date.
For Pauling, too, it marked a new peak. The trainer has already sent out Festival winners and other Grade 1 scorers, but described this as the best they have achieved so far, pointing to the race, the field and the manner of victory. He spoke of always having huge faith in The Jukebox Man and was pleased that a steadily run contest had turned into a proper late battle.
Jones, still early in his top-level career, suddenly finds himself on the King George roll of honour alongside names he will have grown up watching. His ride, close enough to strike and brave enough to go between rivals late, will not have gone unnoticed.
A horse with more to say
Pedigree and profile suggest The Jukebox Man is not done yet.
Foaled in 2018, he is a bay gelding by Ask out of My Twist, by Flemensfirth, giving him a stout National Hunt page and the scope to stay further in time. His Kempton record now includes last year’s Kauto Star Novices’ Chase and this King George, both over three miles, underlining how well the track suits him.
At home, Pauling has joked that his stable is his kingdom, and that unwary visitors risk a nip if they intrude without care. It feels fitting for a horse who refuses to be bullied in a finish.
Four straight wins have taken him from promising novice to established Grade 1 chaser. Whether the next step is Cheltenham or a steadier route, Redknapp knows expectations have shifted.
For a man who spent decades living week to week on league tables and cup draws, there is something fitting about his biggest racing moment arriving in a race so closely tied to the British sporting Christmas.
The Jukebox Man’s nose victory did more than land a big prize. It fixed Harry Redknapp’s colours into one of jump racing’s great modern stories and confirmed that his second act in the game is far more than a cameo.
