Gordon Elliott is keeping his fingers crossed Jack Kennedy will win his race against time to be fit to ride at the Cheltenham Festival.
The 25-year-old has been sidelined since breaking his leg for a sixth time in a fall at Fairyhouse in late November and missed the 2023 Festival with a similar injury.
In his absence Elliott has called on the likes of Sam Ewing, Danny Gilligan and Jordan Gainford to fill the void, with Ewing in particular making hay with Grade One victories aboard the Cheltenham-bound quartet of Croke Park, Romeo Coolio, Brighterdaysahead and The Yellow Clay.
Elliott is full of praise for his young team of riders, but knows having his stable jockey back on the teamsheet in the Cotswolds would be a big advantage.
"I'd love to have him back – Jack is part of the team. He looks great, he feels sound and is just waiting to get word back from the doctors," the trainer said on Wednesday.
"He’s been at RACE for the last couple of months and has been on the simulator I think for the last couple of weeks. He’s been back riding out a few days.
"It will be disappointing (if he doesn’t ride at Cheltenham). I shouldn’t say it will be a blow because Sam, Danny and Jordan have all done a brilliant job and they’re all world-class jockeys themselves, but Jack is Jack – they don’t make too many Jacks, you know?
"He’s a great fella and very laid-back – he’s horizontal. Nothing fazes him at all."
Despite his catalogue of injuries, Kennedy has ridden 10 winners at the Cheltenham Festival, his first coming aboard the Elliott-trained Labaik in the the 2017 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle when aged just 17.
He is also a Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning rider, having steered Henry de Bromhead’s Minella Indo to glory four years ago.
"I think he’s just unlucky," Elliott added.
"People say he must have brittle bones and maybe there’s an element of that, but a few of those falls… I think any of us would have broken up with the same thing."
