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

Dec 31, 2025 The centrepiece of Thursday at the Cheltenham Festival needs little embellishment. The Boodles Gold Cup is the race that defines careers, burnishes legacies and asks the most searching questions of horse and rider over three miles, two furlongs of unforgiving turf.

This year’s possible field has depth, intrigue and no shortage of familiar names, with Ireland again poised to dominate but Britain ready to counter with a handful of genuine contenders.

At the head of many lists sits Galopin Des Champs, the reigning king of the staying chase division and a dual winner of this contest. Trained by Willie Mullins, the 10-year-old has already etched his name into Festival folklore and would be chasing a rare hat-trick in the race that matters most. His Leopardstown runs earlier in the season suggested there is still plenty of fire burning, and he arrives as the horse they all have to beat.

Standing firmly in his path is last year’s winner Inothewayurthinkin, whose relentless galloping style and proven Cheltenham stamina make him an obvious threat to defend his crown. Gavin Cromwell’s charge has quietly developed into one of the most reliable stayers around and will again be seen to best effect up the hill.

Mullins’ strength in depth is formidable. Gaelic Warrior, a horse of immense raw ability, continues to tease with flashes of brilliance and near-misses at the very top level, while Fact To File brings pace and class if able to see out the trip at Championship intensity. Nick Rockett and Grangeclare West add further layers to an already powerful hand, each capable of stepping forward on the biggest stage.

Affordale Fury has thrust himself firmly into the conversation with a sequence of performances that suggest he belongs at the very top table of staying chasers. His Leopardstown Grade One success showed not only stamina and resolution, but a telling turn of foot at the business end, allied to the sort of accurate, economical jumping that is essential for Gold Cup contention. Crucially, he has demonstrated an ability to handle pressure in deep races and to see out a relentless gallop, two attributes that are repeatedly exposed on the climb from the last fence at Prestbury Park.

While March will represent his stiffest examination yet against established champions, there is a sense that Affordale Fury is still improving, and if he arrives at Cheltenham in the same form and with similar confidence, he looks more than capable of playing a significant role rather than merely making up the numbers.

Ireland’s challenge does not stop there. Gordon Elliott fields a trio headed by Gerri Colombe, whose Festival record is rock-solid despite questions lingering after a pulled-up effort earlier in the season. Croke Park and Better Days Ahead provide alternative strands for Cullentra House, both proven Grade One performers with the resilience required for this test.

British hopes rest heavily on Grey Dawning, who has quietly emerged as a serious Gold Cup horse for Dan Skelton, combining accurate jumping with a strong finishing effort. Handstands and Jagwar represent a younger brigade, still improving and not yet fully exposed at this level, while Iroko’s powerful late surge in top company earlier in the season marks him down as a lively outsider if the race turns tactical.

Others bring proven Festival form or untapped potential. Fastorslow is a former Festival winner capable of raising his game in March, Gentlemansgame has long threatened to land a major prize, and Monty’s Star and Spillane’s Tower would not look out of place hitting the frame if everything falls right.

As ever with the Gold Cup, conditions, pace and positioning will play their part, but one certainty remains: this is a race that demands courage as much as class. Whether it is the familiar roar for a reigning champion or the emergence of a new hero up the Cheltenham hill, March 13 promises another chapter in the Festival’s most storied contest.

BoyleSports

Cheltenham Gold Cup Chase
£625,000 guaranteed, 5yo plus, 3m 2f 70y, Class 1
POSSIBLE entries
Going:

NO. FORM HORSE AGE TRAINER JOCKEY (form as of Dec 31)
1 17-442 Banbridge 10 - Joseph O'Brien
2 12136- Better Days Ahead 8 - Gordon Elliott
3 127-33 Croke Park 8 - Gordon Elliott
4 31-426 Fact To File 9 - W P Mullins
5 /14-36 Fastorslow 10 - Martin Brassil
6 311-13 Gaelic Warrior 8 - W P Mullins
7 112-13 Galopin Des Champs 10 - W P Mullins
8 /4333- Gentlemansgame 10 - M F Morris
9 21/3-P Gerri Colombe 10 - Gordon Elliott
10 535-84 Grangeclare West 10 - W P Mullins
11 2P12-1 Grey Dawning 9 - Dan Skelton
12 11-1P1 Haiti Couleurs 9 - Rebecca Curtis
13 11P-24 Handstands 7 - Ben Pauling
14 541-59 Inothewayurthinkin 8 - Gavin Cromwell
15 424-21 Iroko 8 - Oliver Greenall & Josh Guerriero
16 1311-3 Jagwar 7 - Oliver Greenall & Josh Guerriero
17 213-14 Jango Baie 7 - Nicky Henderson
18 /11U-7 Jingko Blue 7 - Nicky Henderson
19 11-F77 Lecky Watson 8 - W P Mullins
20 13-123 Majborough 6 - W P Mullins
21 54-305 Monty's Star 9 - Henry De Bromhead
22 1F11-F Myretown 9 - Lucinda Russell & Michael Scudamore
23 /4111- Nick Rockett 9 - W P Mullins
24 1UB3-P Quai De Bourbon 7 - W P Mullins
25 125-29 Spillane's Tower 8 - James Joseph Mangan
26 22-338 Stellar Story 9 - Gordon Elliott
27 /11-11 The Jukebox Man 8 - Ben Pauling

previous winners