Dan Skelton on David Power Jockeys' Cup: 'It's a brilliant initiative'

The contest, which launched at Cheltenham on Friday, is the most lucrative jockey competition in the world with prize-money, funded by the Flutter Group, of £1.5million.

It runs through to the eve of the Randox Grand National with riders scoring points for every British National Hunt race shown live on ITV during that period.

Some have criticised the size of the prize pool and the failure to incentivise other groups, particularly owners, but Skelton said: "I think it’s an absolutely brilliant initiative. I’ve seen some comments about it in a negative light, which I think are rather short-sighted.

“Because if this works, and I’m yet to fully understand what Flutter want to see out if it, but the investment they’ve made in it and the investment they made in the ITV series, is phenomenal and should be applauded.

“It’s at the point where other bookmakers are saying ‘isn’t it great’. I think there’s short-sightedness in people saying this money should be used somewhere else.

“This money was never allocated to the sport in the first place. They came in with one idea, they wanted to do this and use this amount to do it. What are the jockeys supposed to say - no?

“But if this works, what’s to stop a new series coming in next year or the year after that supports the trainers which I think will only encourage more and more participation in the ITV races because if the trainers are getting direct points, that will definitely boost field sizes.

“And going on to the most important people in the sport, and they are the most important, the owners, why don’t we have a horse table? There could be six categories, two, two-and-a-half and three miles over hurdles and fences, with prizes down to tenth for the whole season.

“So Jonbon is as likely to get points through a season as Calico. Jonbon runs in Grade Ones, Calico runs in handicaps. They're all two miles, no double points for winning big races, encourage participation. We could have an end-of-season awards and with this new band of supporters we’re trying to drive into the sport, it will work.

“And if does it’s because the first one that went out was the Jockeys Cup and if people can’t see beyond what the Jockey Cup can bring, they’re very short-sighted. Just think what the Jockey Cup could lead to? There’s a massive opportunity there.”

Skelton was a regular contributor to the Champions: Full Gallop documentary that aired over the summer and was delighted with the end-product. He's excited to see what series two brings.

“The Full Gallop programme catapulted us higher than we ever thought it was going to. I think the production company did a phenomenal job with the quality of what they broadcast," he said.

“At the end of the day the content is the content. We’re not trained actors, there’s going to be a lot of rubbish in there so please get our best bits and they did. Series two I think will be even better because there are things they have learned and things we have learned and if we are genuinely trying to promote our sport, we genuinely have to try and do just that."

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