Upcoming major race meetings on both sides of the Irish Sea provide opportunities to bet on the leading jockey and trainer. The expected favourites in the respective markets for Glorious Goodwood (Tuesday to Saturday) and the Galway Festival (Monday to Sunday) are Ryan Moore and Mark Johnston and Mark Townend and Willie Mullins. However, due to related contingencies, bookmakers will not accept accumulators on the four individuals.
You will be able to place cross doubles on the jockeys and trainers to have the most winners at each meeting. A double on the top jockey and trainer specifically at Goodwood or Galway is not allowed because the outcome of one market affects the outcome of the other market, known in gambling as a related market. You may be able to build the bet but you won't get paid out at the combined odds, as one bet impacts the odds of the other.
The best way to illustrate a related double is the winner of a football match and the team to score the first goal. If Manchester United are Evens to beat Liverpool and -125 to score first, no bookie will give you +260 (2 x -125 -1) for the double. If United do score first they are then -300.03 to win the match. The same applies to Moore and Johnston, and Townend and Mullins. If the jockey rides the most winners the respective trainer will train a guaranteed number of winners so the markets are related.
The beauty of a leading jockey or trainer bet is that you have an interest across a number of races. In effect, you have a bet on every horse ridden by the backed jockey and every runner trained by the backed trainer. By definition, the top jockey and trainer favourites will be involved in many of the races during the five days of Goodwood and seven days of Galway.
There could be the potential to cash out or lay the bets. Cash out and exchange betting have opened up whole new worlds.
Bookmakers update the odds in these markets after each day of racing. If Moore rides a treble or Johnston has three winners on the first day of Glorious Goodwood, they become shorter favourites in the top jockey and trainer markets. You could close the bet before knowing the final result at the end of the week to make money regardless of the outcome. The more the bet is right in terms of the number of winners, the greater the guaranteed return when prematurely closing the bet.
There are only Flat races during Glorious Goodwood while the Galway Festival is a mixed meeting comprising races on the Flat and over jumps. The tables below show the top jockey and trainer at each meeting over the last three years:
PLEASE NOTE: Some bookmakers offer separate odds on the top National Hunt jockey and the top Flat jockey at the Galway Festival while others combine both titles in one market.
Goodwood
| Year | Jockey | Winners | Trainer | Winners |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Ryan Moore | 5 | Mark Johnston | 4 |
| 2018 | Ryan Moore | 5 | Mark Johnston | 4 |
| 2019 | PJ McDonald | 4 | Mark Johnston | 6 |
Galway
| Year | Jockey | Winners | Trainer | Winners |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Patrick Mullins/Billy Lee/Barry Geraghty | 4 | Willie Mullins | 12 |
| 2018 | Mark Enright/Billy Lee | 3 | Willie Mullins | 12 |
| 2019 | Donnacha O'Brien | 8 | Willie Mullins | 10 |
The disruption to racing in the UK and Ireland from March to June has changed the dynamic. Travel to Britain has certain conditions and traditional Goodwood and Galway prep races have not taken place. There are the same number of opportunities for jockeys and trainers to accumulate winners though. Johnston and Mullins have dominated the trainer's titles over the last three years while the jockey's titles have been more open, involving seven different riders.
Winning the jockey and trainer titles is about quantity and not quality. Both are determined by winners and not prizemoney won. The number of open handicaps at both events muddies the waters somewhat. Even so, favourites have a good recent record in leading jockey and trainer markets at Goodwood and Galway.