Power relocates to England due to Covid rules

ROBBIE POWER has relocated to Britain for the foreseeable future with the Gold Cup-winning jockey parting ways with Jessica Harrington “on good terms” in order to continue his fruitful alliance with Colin Tizzard.

The 38-year-old made the difficult decision because Covid-19 restrictions currently prevent him from moving freely between Britain and Ireland with 14 days of self-isolation needed.

Power and Tizzard have built up a strong partnership, collecting 11 Grade One wins together since 2017, and the Meath jockey can look forward to partnering Gold Cup third Lostintranslation, Fiddlerontheroof and The Big Breakaway over the coming months.

Leaving behind a young family, as well as a memorable association with Harrington which yielded Gold Cup glory with Sizing John in 2017, was tough, but Power felt he was left with little choice. “I was very happy doing what I was doing previously, I’d the best of both worlds in terms of riding good horses in Ireland and England. It was never in my mindset to move over,” Power told the ‘Racing Post’.

“But the way restrictions are you have to go where the quality is, I have to move over for the moment anyway as I have the owners I ride for.

“We’ll see how we go from there. Jessie and I have parted on good terms.”

Power aims to get off to a flying start with a sole ride in today’s bumper at Ffos Las on the Tizzard-trained Shybairnsgetnowt, while the Cheltenham Festival racing programme is also undergoing a significant change.

The Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Chase replaces the Listed Novices’ Handicap Chase from March 2021 onwards and it will be run on Gold Cup day, with Willie Mullins’ Salsaretta the 5/1 favourite.