Davy Russell is third favourite to be crowned top rider at Cheltenham once again

Davy Russell is 10-1 third favourite to be crowned leading rider at the upcoming Cheltenham festival.

The veteran jockey is set to have first pick on the bulk of Gordon Elliott’s near 60-strong team of runners at the festival after the trainer’s No 1 rider, Jack Kennedy, was ruled out on Friday.

Kennedy has failed to recover in time from a broken leg.

“It [Cheltenham] is just coming too soon. He tried his best, but it’s just coming too soon,” confirmed Kennedy’s agent Kevin O’Ryan.

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“He’s keen to get back as soon as possible, but he is going to give it all the time it needs. Hopefully it will be a couple of weeks after Cheltenham,” he added.

Russell, who answered Elliott’s call to come out of short-lived retirement following Kennedy’s injury, hasn’t ridden in over a fortnight himself but returns to action with two rides at Leopardstown on Sunday.

The 43-year-old has ridden 25 Cheltenham festival winners in his stellar career, including the 2014 Gold Cup on Lord Windermere. He is set to team up with Conflated in the ‘Blue Riband’ event this time.

A four-winner haul in 2018 saw Russell crowned the festival’s top rider that year and only the odds-on Paul Townend and Nico De Boinville are rated above him in betting for that prize now.

The Cork man will be in action in the first two races at Leopardstown where Present Soldier could go close in a maiden hurdle.

Sunday’s feature, the €45,000 Carrickmines Handicap Chase, sees topweight Panda Boy return to the track where he ran a fine third to Real Steel in the Paddy Power Chase over Christmas.

Saturday’s Grade Three highlight at Navan, the Flyingbolt Novice Chase, includes a pair of Willie Mullins runners and Townend could rue picking Flame Bearer over Ha D’or, who should prefer this going compared to the very deep ground he faced last time.

In other news, a new TG4 series of ‘Laochra Na Rásaíochta’ will start this Wednesday and run for four weeks.

They include programmes on Irish winners of the Aintree Grand National, the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and Mullins’s successes in the Champion Hurdle.