The veteran manager boss issued a ‘come-and-get-me’ plea to his former club and says he would jump at the chance of getting back in the dugout
Harry Redknapp’s Cheltenham Gold Cup hopes may have crashed but his dream of turning Spurs back into football thoroughbreds was under starters orders.
The veteran soccer boss issued a ‘come-and-get-me’ plea to his former club shortly before watching his horse The Jukebox Man miss out on glory in yesterday’s racing spectacular.
Asked if he would take the Tottenham job if it was offered the 79-year-old replied: “Of course I would.
“It’s a big challenge. Do I need the pressure at this stage of my life, why not? I’m not too old.
“I feel as fit as a fiddle. If they ask me I think I’d go straight away.”
His focus then switched to racing as he and wife Sandra headed to the Cheltenham parade ring to watch the big race he admits he had always dreamed of winning.
Fans across Britain had piled cash on his fancied seven-year-old which would have netted him £350,000 and cost the bookies ‘tens of millions’ had it won.
But it faded in the home straight and was well-beaten by Gaelic Warrior which delivered a record fifth Gold Cup victory for jockey Paul Townend.
Harry turned away glumly as the drama unfolded.
But no sooner had the race finished than football experts were tipping him to make an against-all-odds return to football to rescue also-rans Tottenham from Premier League relegation.
In a poll 79% of Spurs’ fans voted for the club to sack new manager Igor Tudor after his first four games in charge all ended in defeat – including this week’s 5-2 Champions League trouncing by Atletico Madrid.
And race-goers toasted his future by drinking Cheltenham dry with a Champagne, prosecco and Guinness booze bender.
It was celebrity heaven for fans as a string of household names, TV stars and sports legends packed out the grandstands and the VIP boxes.
But as the mercury plunged to just 7C racegoers wrapped up in scarves, trilbys, fedoras and flat caps as scattered showers watered the concourses before the first race at 1.20pm.
The King’s niece Zara Tindall, 44, and ex-England rugby star husband Mike, 47, posed for a picture with ex-Liverpool FC manager Graeme Souness, 72, as they all arrived together on Friday morning.
Former Top Gear and The Grand Tour host Jeremy Clarkson, 65, arrived, while two Scottish sporting knights Sir Alex Ferguson, 84, and Sir Kenny Dalglish, 75, also came to back some winners.
Excited Clarkson, who came with girlfriend Lisa Hogan, 51, said: “I love Gold Cup Day. I’m from Doncaster, so I shouldn’t really be saying this.
“The Leger and the Lincoln I’m sure are very important, but I do like the Gold Cup. Everybody I know is at Cheltenham today.”
BBC Countryfile star and farmer Adam Henson, 60, and wife Charlotte were all smiles as they came wrapped up as trackside temperatures plummeted to just 7C.
Calendar Girls actress and Traitors star Celia Imrie, 73, said: “I’m a quarter Irish, and half Scots. But the music greeted me and I thought, ‘Nothing could be better’.
“My mother took me racing when I was five or six, but in those days all I could remember was the cold. But, actually, you do have to do a bit of research.”
Cake queen Dame Mary Berry, 90, who attended with her 51- year-old daughter and fellow chef Belles, said: “I saw the Guinness Village was absolutely packed with the young. It’s lovely.
“I have two grandsons there – it’s great. Of course, they’re having a great time.
“It’s very much a family occasion, and it’s packed to the gunnels. There’s a smile on everybody’s face, because it’s beautifully run.”
Model Jodie Kidd, 47, boxer Tommy Fury, 26, looked excited for the day’s racing – while Liz, 60, and Damien Hurley, 23, both wore sunglasses and smiled as they walked through the enclosures to their VIP box.
There was a treble top of darts stars – with arrows’ aces Luke Littler, 19, Luke Humphries, 31, and Nathan Aspinall, 34, all returning to the track after previous visits throughout the four-day festival.
Aspinall said: “I’ve brought my partner Kirsty today. It’s her first time at Cheltenham. We go to Haydock quite a bit. Hopefully we can finish off the week with a bang.”
Singer and Ted Lasso actress Hannah Waddingham, 51, rocked up in a tweed ensemble with a striking green hat that matched her three-piece suit’s green tie.
And she revealed she once tried to ride a horse but it didn’t end well, explaining: “I was actually thrust off a horse sideways once, never to return!”