A number of choice rides confirm Davy Russell's arrival at the top

DAVY RUSSELL is the leading jockey in Ireland this season with 113 winners in the bag and a healthy lead over his nearest rival Ruby Walsh. But while the statistics are impressive, Russell's presence on the back of a couple of Irish "bankers" this afternoon may be even more so. In the most important week of the racing year, such choice mounts are the greatest proof of all that the Cork-born jockey has arrived at the top.

Forpadydeplasterer might have a name to provoke knowing sniggers but his chance in the Ballymore Properties Novice Hurdle is serious enough to make him the main Irish hope of success. Zaarito's claims for the Weatherbys Champion Bumper are if anything even clearer: unbeaten, ultra-impressive in three starts and carrying the sort of confidence from his normally understated trainer that is hard to ignore.

Throw in Mansony, the main Irish hope in the Queen Mother Champion Chase, and Naiad Du Misselot for his old boss Ferdy Murphy in the Coral Cup, and Russell has a lot to look forward to. He is keen to put everything in context, and stresses the difficulty facing them all, but he is clear on the value of entering the most famous winner's enclosure of all.

"One of them would be worth a lot of the winners I've had at home," Russell acknowledges. "It is the real deal to win at Cheltenham. It sweetens a lot of things for the year. Put it like this, if I go home at the end of the week and I say to myself 'I should have won' on one of them, it will be very disheartening."

Forpadydeplasterer and Zaarito bookend the afternoon and if the Dublin-owned, Kerry-trained hurdler can justify all the hopes invested in him, then it really could set up a day to remember.

With the name imposed on him by the 12-member Goat Racing Syndicate, Forpadydeplasterer was always guaranteed attention. But there has always been enough talent there too to make him stand out.

"Tom (Cooper) is not a man that says much but he was always telling me that this was a real good horse - a lazy devil but good. He wasn't the type to win a bumper but he would be good. Then he went and won a bumper very well," Russell remembers.

"I couldn't ride him in his first race over hurdles because I had to ride The Wandering Man for Colm Murphy. That horse is quite useful but I was kicking myself for having missed out on Tom's horse. Then Barry (Geraghty) was claimed for Cork All Star at Christmas and I was able to commit to him. He was good that day, hung a little left, but then really stepped up the next day," he adds.

That Deloitte victory left some unconvinced that Forpadydeplasterer's hanging was a one-off. However, that is not something that overly concerns his rider.

"He had a twinge behind, nothing serious, and he was probably feeling the effects. He has a tendency to hang to his left but it's not something that will stop him. For me it's not a problem," he says. "It's so hard to compare Irish and English form and not many will have raced at the trip. But it looks obvious to the eye that the trip will help and not hinder my horse."

The trip won't be a problem for Zaarito either but like every other runner in the race, the rough and tumble of the bumper is an unknown quantity.

"There are no obstacles so everyone tightens up. It's all about getting a clear run. If you do get tangled up in a bad position it can be an absolute nightmare," Russell says before agreeing that Mansony faces the challenge of his career in the Champion Chase.

"It's a good Queen Mother, with Paul Nicholls's horses and Alan King's horse, and if we are going to be involved, Mansony has to step up to a career best," the jockey says. "A lot of people went on about him going right at Leopardstown but he was just making room for himself because he's a clever jumper. He does drop his shoulder to the right sometimes, but it's nothing violent."

In total it's a collection of rides befitting the season's top jockey and they're proof that Russell is entering a new phase of his career. Native Jack's cross-country win in 2006 was a memorable festival victory. Joes Edge last year was the same.

But in Cheltenham terms, they were hardly championship events. Today is very much the real deal.