Could Harry Cobden be inheriting JP McManus's best-ever squad?

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Harry Cobden will become the new number one rider for JP McManus in Britain and Ireland following an announcement on Monday.

After being based with Paul Nicholls for a decade, the 27-year-old jockey will take on his new role in May, and a look at the stats suggests he may have got the job at the perfect time . . .

With JP McManus boasting 22 owners' championships in Ireland and 18 in Britain, it is no surprise that the job as his retained rider may be one of the most coveted positions in jump racing. 

The role will not only grant Cobden access to a host of new stables, with the McManus silks being utilised by 48 trainers in Ireland and 19 in Britain last season, but also a wealth of top-class horses, with the owner having leading candidates in just about every jumps division going. 

Chief among McManus's runners is Inothewayurthinkin, last year's Gold Cup winner and a general 8-1 shot to repeat the feat this March. The eight-year-old took jump racing's most coveted prize last season in devastating fashion when trouncing Galopin Des Champs by six lengths, and his Racing Post Rating of 182 makes him the highest-rated horse McManus has ever owned. 

Inothewayurthinkin's RPR betters that of Istabraq (181) and First Gold (178), and a sign of the quality Cobden is inheriting is that McManus not only has the highest-rated horse in training, but two of the top four, with Fact To File (177) also among his team.

Inothewayurthinkin: last season's Gold Cup winnerCredit: Edward Whitaker

Fact To File is one of several horses Cobden will take over riding from the yard of Willie Mullins, who has produced 22 Grade 1 winners for McManus. 

Cobden played key a role in Mullins' British trainers' title last season with success on his horses in the Scottish National and the Sussex Champion Hurdle, and he will ride more of the yard's exciting runners next term including the likes of I Am Maximus, Majborough and Dinoblue. 

The jockey will be kept busy when he takes over the role in May, with McManus responsible for 994 runs from 247 horses last season. He had 151 winners from those 994 runners, predominately in Ireland, and has had 77 winners this jumps campaign. 

Alongside trips to Closutton, Cobden will also be spending a lot more time at Seven Barrows, with Nicky Henderson bringing his Grade 1-winning tally to 37 for McManus with Impose Toi's Long Walk Hurdle win last month. 

Cobden has ridden just three times for Henderson, without success, but he will take over the rides on McManus's leading Lambourn runners including star two-miler Jonbon, who contests the Clarence House Chase this weekend. 

Alongside the more established stars, which include the likes of the Dan Skelton-trained The New Lion, Cobden will also pick up rides on several exciting up-and-comers such as Narciso Has, Kaid D'Authie and Meetmebythesea. 

They highlight the depth of McManus's squad, and while his overall numbers have dropped over the last five seasons, including a notable 46 per cent decrease in British-trained horses between 2021 and 2025, his quality is only improving, with last season's Grade 1 haul reaching double figures for the third consecutive year.

All the signs suggest Cobden is primed for a profitable spell as McManus's number one rider. All that is left to do is to see if he can deliver. 

Read more:

Harry Cobden 'privileged' to be appointed JP McManus's new retained rider in both Britain and Ireland from next season 

From point-to-points to champion jockey: Harry Cobden's path to wearing the green and gold silks of JP McManus  

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