HARRY'S IRON MAN

Jittery Redknapp willing to endure seven minutes of agony for Jukebox to be No.1

- ANDY DUNN

HARRY REDKNAPP knows what a Cheltenham Gold Cup winner looks like — and not just any old Cheltenham Gold Cup winner.

In the late 80s, when he was not on the Bournemouth training ground or in the dugout for a match, Redknapp would make the 20-mile drive to Whitsbury to watch David Elsworth's string work.

Redknapp had paid £800 for a share in a horse named Slick Cherry but his eye was always caught by a stablemate.

“They were great days,” he smiles. “I would go to Elsie’s yard to see Slick Cherry but would watch Desert Orchid on the gallops. It was fantastic.

“And it was an amazing year when Dessie won the Gold Cup.

“I never thought, all these years later, I would be going to Cheltenham with a horse that has a chance in the Gold Cup.”

And The Jukebox Man has not just got a chance, he has got a serious chance, having got up on the line to win one of the best renewals of the King George at Kempton on Boxing Day.