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Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup
Grade 1, Cheltenham 16:00 £625,000 guaranteed, 5yo plus, 3m 2f 70y, Class 1
Tweet Friday 13th March 2026

Defending champion Inothewayurthinkin is one of 11 horses set to line up in Friday’s Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup, but Fact To File will not be among them after connections opted against supplementing for the blue riband.

The Irish Gold Cup winner is instead on course to defend his title in Thursday’s Ryanair Chase, leaving Inothewayurthinkin from the Gavin Cromwell yard and Jimmy Mangan’s Spillane’s Tower to lead the charge for owner JP McManus in the Festival showpiece.

Willie Mullins confirmed on Friday that dual winner Galopin Des Champs will miss the race. However, the Closutton trainer still holds a strong hand with Gaelic Warrior, who has been elevated to favouritism in the absence of his illustrious stablemate.

There are Gold Cup winners and there are Gold Cup statements. Inothewayurthinkin delivered the latter in 2025, surging six lengths clear in the Cheltenham blue riband under Mark Walsh, carrying the famous green and gold of John P McManus. It was not merely a victory, it was an arrival.

INOTHEWAYURTHINKIN BEATS GALOPIN DES CHAMPS IN THE GOLD CUP! 🏆pic.twitter.com/9ue0QV7SpX

— Sporting Life Racing: Cheltenham Festival 2025! (@SportingLife) March 14, 2025

The path since has not been a procession. A bruising campaign has included stern examinations and a crashing exit in the Irish Gold Cup, the sort of reversal that invites murmurs as much as sympathy. For some, it planted a seed of doubt; for others, it was simply the hazard of elite company at full tilt.

Gavin Cromwell, typically measured, has been quick to bat away any notion of lingering infirmity. A searching piece of work at Fairyhouse recently appears to have reassured connections that their charge is very much intact. The trainer’s long-held view is that this is a horse who thrives when the days lengthen and the ground quickens — a spring operator whose engine purrs loudest at championship tempo.

The market, ever reactive, has begun to listen. Trimmed from 16/1 into 8/1, he now sits as the eighth-favourite, his price reflecting both the depth of the field and the depth of opinion. Admirers point to that Gold Cup demolition as proof of rare ability; sceptics counter with questions of consistency and the scars of a hard season.

Cromwell’s verdict, however, is delivered with quiet conviction. “He did a bit of work after racing in Fairyhouse last week and that went very well. You can make a case for plenty in the race, but if he is on his A-game, he’s going to take plenty of beating.”

One of the most fascinating subplots centres on Gaelic Warrior, the horse Patrick Mullins has openly identified as the one he would most like to ride in the Gold Cup. The amateur has already partnered the eight-year-old to victory at the highest level, steering him to Aintree Bowl success last spring, and was again in the saddle when he chased home stablemate Fact To File in the Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown.

What a performance from Fact To File to win the Irish Gold Cup!pic.twitter.com/J2BS7aK5h0

— Old Gold Racing (@OldGoldRacing) February 2, 2026

With Willie Mullins holding a formidable hand that also includes the the upwardly mobile Fact To File, decisions still need to be made about targets, and Gaelic Warrior could yet be rerouted to the Ryanair Chase. But Mullins junior has made no secret of his ambition to line up in the blue riband.

“I’d love to ride Gaelic Warrior in the Gold Cup. My vote would put him in the race, but I don’t know how important my vote is!

“When you look at Kempton and Aintree, where he ran very well both times, and then you look at the Cheltenham Gold Cup course, all of them have a constant inside running rail. You also have that strip of fresh ground for Gold Cup day, so every race is very tight and that is how you could get him to settle.

“At Leopardstown there is no inside running rail, horses are spread out all over the course and he gets a bit lit up. I don’t think that was the difference between winning and losing in the Irish Gold Cup, but I think his form outside Leopardstown is considerably better than his form in Leopardstown and I think he could turn that form around with Fact To File.”

Already a Grand National-winning rider, Mullins is acutely aware of what a Gold Cup would represent, and he has even drawn inspiration from the unique achievements of Sam Waley-Cohen.

“If I could choose one the Grand National would be the one, because of the history, but Sam won both so we’ll try to match him. I think the track layout and the way the race will pan out means you could park Gaelic Warrior in a pocket with no daylight and get him to settle – I think that will show him in a better light.

“He obviously won the Arkle and I do think the softer the ground the better for him. I don’t have any worries about the track, but I do think the softer the ground the better for him.

“You don’t know if they’ll stay the Gold Cup trip until you try, but I thought in Leopardstown after running a little keen he picked up all the way from the second-last to the line and pulled eight and a half lengths clear of Galopin Des Champs.”

Another familiar face returning to Prestbury Park is L’Homme Presse, whose trainer Venetia Williams is mapping out a spring campaign that will see the popular 11-year-old attempt to improve on last year’s fourth before heading on to Aintree. His winter has been one of quiet encouragement, with runner-up finishes at Cheltenham and Newbury suggesting plenty of fire still burns.

“He has come out of Newbury well. The handicapper left him alone and put Haiti up and took a view on the run, so it will be interesting to see what weight he gets in the Grand National.

“All being well he will now go to the Gold Cup and then on to Aintree.”

Williams remains realistic but hopeful about his Gold Cup prospects, drawing on history to frame expectations.

“He can still run well in a Gold Cup, Mon Mome finished third in a Gold Cup after winning his National and he never achieved the ratings L’Homme Presse has. It would be nice to take him to Cheltenham again and if he ran into a place we would be delighted.

“He would need to jump better than he did at Newbury, but there are times his mind is not quite on the jumping job and it was certainly like that in the Denman.

“On his day his jumping his great and you only have to go back to his previous run at Cheltenham when he was second in the Cotswold, he jumped superbly then. His brain just wasn’t in gear at Newbury, but we’ll allow him a few off days, he’s earned that.”

Beyond individual campaigns, there is a growing sense that Britain may finally be poised to end Ireland’s recent dominance in the race. Although Galopin Des Champs bids for a third Gold Cup, opinion among leading judges is sharply divided, and several British-trained contenders are being talked up as genuine threats.

Tom Segal has surprised many by siding with Haiti Couleurs, whose rapid rise continues to impress.

“I think the British might win this. Haiti Couleurs gets a lot of bad press, but all he does is win races, whatever it is, and he wins easily. No one knows where his ceiling is.

“He’s a lot better than Inothewayurthinkin was before winning this last year. He’s done a lot in a short space of time and he has won at Cheltenham. He could easily win it. He’s a seriously top-class horse. I think he’ll be a lot bigger price on the day too.”

Paul Kealy, meanwhile, remains firmly in the camp of The Jukebox Man, believing the King George winner can achieve a rare double.

What a finish to the King George 😍

WHAT A RACE!

🏆 The Jukebox Man wins it on the line! Harry Redknapp is a winning King George owner!

pic.twitter.com/0j0kgp6n51

— BETDAQ (@BETDAQ) December 26, 2025

“He’s not a Cheltenham Festival winner, but he near enough was in the 2024 Albert Bartlett and was only beaten a head.

“He handles the track and there’s loads to like about him. If you ask me to give a 1-2-3, it’d be a different one I’d give you tomorrow, but at the moment, I’m very much positive on him.”

“I thought he was really good first time – as good as he’s ever run on his comeback – but maybe he bounced a bit last time. He’d need proper soft ground to win.”

“I don’t fancy him at all. Last year’s race was a complete shambles and completely fell apart, but this time you’ve got four or five serious contenders in there. He’ll have to be as good as when he won it the first time to win again.”

With established champions, emerging stars and genuine debate across the field, the 2026 Cheltenham Gold Cup is shaping up as a contest where reputation alone will not suffice – and where the balance of power may finally be up for grabs.

Cheltenham Gold Cup Chase
£625,000 guaranteed, 5yo plus, 3m 2f 70y, Class 1
11 runners
Going: Good to Soft, Good in places

previous winners