'Dream come true' - Redknapp eyes Jukebox Man Gold Cup win

From "sticking a pen in a couple" while having a youthful flutter to owning a King George VI Chase winner and potential Cheltenham Gold Cup victor, Harry Redknapp has come a long way in horse racing.

The FA Cup-winning football manager's love of the sport can be traced back to his grandmother Maggie Brown, who was a bookmaker's runner in London's East End, at a time when betting shops and off-course betting were illegal.

On Friday, his horse Jukebox Man will attempt to add the Cheltenham showpiece to his King George win in December.

The King George VI Chase is considered the biggest jumps race of the season before the Cheltenham Festival, while the Gold Cup is described by the Jockey Club as the most prestigious steeplechase in the world.

After claiming a photo-finish victory at Kempton Park on Boxing Day to topple 2024 King George winner Banbridge and 9-4 joint-favourite Gaelic Warrior, Redknapp said: "We've come into the Champions League today."

But can he win jump racing's equivalent of the Champions League?

"We have a chance, but it is a tough race," Redknapp told BBC Radio 5 Live:

Among those standing in his way are Gaelic Warrior, Jango Baie, Haiti Couleur and last year's winner Inothewayurthinkin.

Redknapp said: "Just to have a runner in the Gold Cup is a dream come true.

"We have had so much fun with Jukebox Man, which won the King George on Boxing Day, which is one of the most iconic races in the racing calendar.

"To go to the Gold Cup and to have a runner with a bit of a chance is great."

Victory would be the crowning moment of a 70-year love affair with the sport that began during childhood.

"My nan would take the bets," he said. "I'd come out for my school dinner when I'm eight or nine and she was getting put in the back of a police van and taken to Poplar police station.”

Redknapp’s nan would tell him to “stick a pen in a couple“ that would be her bets for the day.

Despite his love of the sport, he has never been tempted to ride - "not for all the money in the world".

”They get injured, these jump jockeys, and then they come back about three weeks later, he said.

"They're not like footballers, are they?"

Redknapp owns shares in 26 horses.

"You're not always successful," he said.

"For every Shakem Up'arry and Jukebox Man and Taurus Bay, there's lots of others that never really did anything."

Redknapp is among the favourites to take charge at Tottenham Hotspur once more if interim manager Igor Tudor is sacked.

Spurs have lost all four games since Tudor's appointment last month, including Tuesday's 5-2 defeat by Atletico Madrid in the Champions League last 16 first leg.

They are one point above the Premier League relegation zone.

Redknapp, 79, managed Spurs from 2008 to 2012 and led them to the Champions League for the first time.

He told Radio 5 Live: "I don't expect to get a call. I doubt very much that would happen. My focus this week is on Cheltenham.

"No-one's got a magic wand. You can't walk in and suddenly sprinkle stardust on the players.

"Whatever's been going on has been going on there now for the last 40 games or so, this season, last season.

"The players need to stand up and be counted now and start performing and get a couple of results to keep the club in the Premier League because it's going to be tough."