Brian O'Connortalks to championship-leading jockey Davy Russell, who at 28 is riding at the peak of his powers

Davy Russell has ridden 99 winners this season, leading Ruby Walsh on his way to what could be a first jockey's title. And he cheerfully admits he would swap it for one of the championship races at the Cheltenham festival.

His admission is just further confirmation of the differences between this island and the one next door.

In Britain, the championship is an end in itself. If you doubt that, then simply examine Tony McCoy's remorseless drive to win it each year: thousands of miles a month in the hollow-cheeked pursuit of statistical glory.

Here, however, it remains very much a means to an end, and the end game in Ireland is getting on the best horses in the best races.

Russell knows this better than most. So while plenty are getting excited about a potential end-of-season duel with Walsh, the season's leading rider looks at the daily grind as a key to the likes of the Grade One action that takes place at Leopardstown tomorrow.

As pay-offs go, it's about as good as it gets in this country.

"I can see why the championship thing is there in every paper and everyone's getting excited about it, but it's not my main priority," the Corkman readily declares.

"This game is all about getting on a proper horse in the real good races. At the end of the day I really would swap the championship for one of the big races at Cheltenham. They are hugely important."

Quite how many of the 99 he would swap to win one of the Grade Ones on offer tomorrow is debatable but it's fair to say it might merit double figures.

After all, these are the races that establish much of the meritocracy in the weigh-room.

The fact Russell is on quality horses like Thyne Again in the Dr PJ Moriarty Chase and the intriguingly named Forpadydeplasterer in the Deloitte is, in the first place, as sure a sign of his rise to the top table as any stats chart.

In fact if it had not been for Mossbank's late withdrawal from the Hennessy yesterday, a Grade One three-timer could not have been ruled out.

Fully breaking into the big-race hegemony established by Messrs Walsh, Carberry and Geraghty in recent years is a major task but one most in the game now regard as being only a matter of time. At the age of 28, Russell is riding at the peak of his powers.

It has actually taken longer to get to this stage than many initially predicted for the 2002 champion point-to-point rider. The promise exhibited between the flags was enough to earn him a professional contract as Ferdy Murphy's stable jockey in England.

However, if some horses take time to maximise their potential, it's not unknown for their riders to do the same.

Blessed with the talent for his profession but cursed with a height and frame that make fighting his weight a constant battle, Russell cut a rather a restless figure when returning to Ireland after two years with Murphy.

He came back to ride for, and then split with, both Edward O'Grady and Michael O'Brien.

But a total of 75 winners in the 2005-2006 season was followed by 79 the following year and now a punishing workload riding for a lot of different trainers is paying off in spades.

So much so that he now also has the pick of the powerful string of horses owned by the Ryanair supremo, Michael O'Leary.

Russell has nothing but praise for O'Leary and although Mossbank is missing out tomorrow, a win for the partnership at Cheltenham could yet put a top-flight seal on the relationship.

"Michael's very straightforward," the jockey says. "He loves his racing and if you ride to get the best possible position, he's happy. If you're beaten, and you hold your hands up, there's no problem. If you're beaten and there are no excuses, he can see that too. He's clued in."

This weekend, however, Russell's principal focus will be on Thyne Again, whose trainer, Liam Burke, comes from the same point-to-point roots in Cork.

Burke has sold on enough quality young horses to the likes of the big English owner Paul Barber to know when he has a special one on his hands.

He has already mentioned Thyne Again in connection with a possible future Gold Cup triumph and tomorrow will be a big test of those credentials. Like the trainer, Russell also has half an eye on the future.

"It will be a very competitive race but it won't be the end of the world if he is beaten. Liam does not want the rest of the horse's career left behind at Leopardstown," he says.

"His full brother won over three miles on Thursday so we're happy enough he'll stay the trip. It'll be no foregone conclusion though. Willie's horse (J'y Vole) is getting an awful lot of weight and Jim Dreaper's horse (Notre Pere) has bundles of stamina."

Forpadydeplasterer split both Whatuthink and Cork All Star during Christmas but an extra quarter mile this time could be enough to see him go to Cheltenham on a winning note.

And for his jockey, that will be the sweetest tune of all.