CHELTENHAM, England (AP) — Harry Redknapp pushed his credentials as the man to save Tottenham from Premier League relegation — then saw his horse, The Jukebox Man, fail to live up to its big billing in one of Britain’s most prestigious jumps races.
The 79-year-old Redknapp, a charismatic former soccer coach, took center stage at the Cheltenham Festival on Friday as the owner of one of the favorites for the Gold Cup.
However, The Jukebox Man slipped down the field in the final section of a race won by 11-4 joint favorite Gaelic Warrior by an estimated eight lengths.
Before the Gold Cup, Redknapp was in demand as much because of his past links to Tottenham as his horse-racing connections.
The team is fighting relegation from England’s lucrative top soccer league and Redknapp was asked on British broadcaster ITV if he could return to the club where he was manager from 2008-12 and save it from the drop.
“I’d go in and have a crack at it,” Redknapp said.
“If they ask me,” he added, “I could go and do a job, for sure.”
Redknapp’s last managerial post was at Birmingham in the second-tier Championship in 2017.
Tottenham’s current manager is Igor Tudor and he is under pressure having lost all four of his matches in charge since taking over on an interim basis.
Redknapp said he doubted he would be asked to replace Tudor, should Tottenham wish to make another change.
“They know where I am if they need me,” said Redknapp, who described being center of attention at Cheltenham this week as “great fun.”
“It’s been a great week. I’ve loved every minute of it,” he said. “It would have been the icing on the cake to have won, obviously.”
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