On Friday of the Cheltenham Festival, we have a big one, the race of the week, and arguably, the race of the season: it’s the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
This day is simply named Gold Cup Day, making it clear to those attending what is the biggest race of the day.
A gruelling test, and what I think is the toughest race to win of the entire season, we see top-class horses running over 3m2f, with the winner lifting racing’s prime trophy.
Over the years, this race has delivered time after time, and if for some reason, you’re only watching one festival race, I’d highly recommend it be this one.
We have Championship races every day at the festival, beginning with Tuesday’s Champion Hurdle, but the Gold Cup stands taller than the rest, and has something very special about it.
It’s been the home to some of the biggest performances in racing, and over the years, a number of legendary names in the sport have managed to win the race.
Twenty-two fences, three miles and two furlongs, plus the Cheltenham hill to navigate at the end, all that stands between success and failure.
With over £625,000 up for grabs in the prize pot, this race is the most valuable non-handicap chase race in the UK and Ireland, further cementing it as the best in the business.
Race Facts
There’s a reason that the Gold Cup is seen as a real challenge for the best horses in the business. It is a relentless, challenging race that lasts for over 5,331 metres or three miles and two and a half furlongs. The distance alone would be hard work, but what makes it particularly challenging are the jumps, of which there are twenty-two to be completed.
This obviously isn’t a race for young, inexperienced horses. For that reason it’s open to five-year-olds and older with a weight of eleven stone six pounds or eleven stone ten pounds for horses that are older than six. There’s a seven pound allowance for mares. The left-handed race is run on the New Course and has been ever since 1959, as we mentioned earlier.
100 Guineas was the prize given to Spectre when he won the flat race on Cleeve Hill way back in 1819. Sufficed to say that has changed a wee bit over the years. When it was re-inaugurated, if you will, in 1924 as a jump-race it had grown to become £685.
From there it has shot-up year on year and by 2026 and had £625,000 in the pot, making it Britain and Ireland’s most valuable non-handicap chase.
Records For Most Wins
| Record Type | No of Wins | Record Holder |
|---|---|---|
| Horse | 5 | Golden Miller |
| Trainer | 5 | Tom Dreaper & Willie Mullins |
| Jockey | 5 | Paul Townend |
Race Trends: Winners Since 2000
Previous Winners
| Year | Winner | Age | Odds | Prize | Jockey / Trainer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Gaelic Warrior | 8 | 11/4 J | £351,687.50 |
J: P Townend
T: W P Mullins
|
| 2025 | Inothewayurthinkin | 7 | 15/2 | £364,313.58 |
J: M P Walsh
T: G P Cromwell
|
| 2024 | Galopin Des Champs | 8 | 10/11 F | £351,688 |
J: P Townend
T: W P Mullins
|
| 2023 | Galopin Des Champs | 7 | 7/5 F | £351,688 |
J: P Townend
T: W P Mullins
|
| 2022 | A Plus Tard | 8 | 3/1 F | £351,688 |
J: Rachael Blackmore
T: H De Bromhead
|
| 2021 | Minella Indo | 8 | 9/1 | £263,766 |
J: J W Kennedy
T: H De Bromhead
|
| 2020 | Al Boum Photo | 8 | 100/30 F | £351,687.50 |
J: P Townend
T: W P Mullins
|
| 2019 | Al Boum Photo | 7 | 12/1 | £351,687.50 |
J: P Townend
T: W P Mullins
|
| 2018 | Native River | 8 | 5/1 | £369,821.92 |
J: Richard Johnson
T: C Tizzard
|
| 2017 | Sizing John | 7 | 7/1 | £327,462.50 |
J: Robbie Power
T: Mrs John Harrington
|
| 2016 | Don Cossack | 9 | 9/4 F | £327,462.50 |
J: B J Cooper
T: G Elliott
|
| 2015 | Coneygree | 8 | 7/1 | £313,225 |
J: N de Boinville
T: M Bradstock
|
| 2014 | Lord Windermere | 8 | 20/1 | £327,325.82 |
J: Davy Russell
T: J H Culloty
|
| 2013 | Bobs Worth | 8 | 11/4 F | £313,225 |
J: Barry Geraghty
T: N J Henderson
|
| 2012 | Synchronised | 9 | 8/1 | £284,750 |
J: A P McCoy
T: Jonjo O'Neill
|
| 2011 | Long Run | 6 | 7/2 F | £285,050 |
J: Mr Sam Waley-Cohen
T: N J Henderson
|
| 2010 | Imperial Commander | 9 | 7/1 | £270,797.50 |
J: Paddy Brennan
T: N Twiston-Davies
|
| 2009 | Kauto Star | 9 | 7/4 F | £270,797.50 |
J: Ruby Walsh
T: P F Nicholls
|
| 2008 | Denman | 8 | 9/4 | £268,279.10 |
J: Sam Thomas
T: P F Nicholls
|
| 2007 | Kauto Star | 7 | 5/4 F | £242,335 |
J: Ruby Walsh
T: P F Nicholls
|
| 2006 | War Of Attrition | 7 | 15/2 | £228,080 |
J: Conor O'Dwyer
T: M F Morris
|
| 2005 | Kicking King | 7 | 4/1 F | £212,268.40 |
J: Barry Geraghty
T: T J Taaffe
|
| 2004 | Best Mate | 9 | 8/11 F | £203,000 |
J: Jim Culloty
T: Henrietta C Knight
|
| 2003 | Best Mate | 8 | 13/8 F | £203,000 |
J: Jim Culloty
T: Henrietta C Knight
|
| 2002 | Best Mate | 7 | 7/1 | £174,000 |
J: Jim Culloty
T: Henrietta C Knight
|
| 2000 | Looks Like Trouble | 8 | 9/2 | £162,400 |
J: Richard Johnson
T: Noel Chance
|
Race Trivia
Cup Called Off 3 Times
Excluding two years during the Second World War when it the meeting was cancelled in its entirety, the Gold Cup has been called off three times since its re-invention as a jump race in 1924. The first time this happened was when there was a severe frost in 1931. The second time was due to terrible flooding six years later, and the third time was when foot-and-mouth disease spread throughout the United Kingdom and it was decided that it would be wise to call off the Festival completely.
Gold Trophy Chase
When the Cheltenham Festival was abandoned because of that foot-and-mouth outbreak in 1924 ir was decided that a replacement set of races would be held at Sandown instead. The Gold Cup equivalent, named the ‘Gold Trophy Chase’, was won by Marlborough. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t receive the respect that the Gold Cup garners.
Linwell Was Unique
There was something unique about Linwell, the winner of the trophy in 1957. He had been trained by man named Ivor Herbert. ‘What’s unique about that?’, you may well ask. Well Herbert was actually not allowed to hold a trainer’s licence owing to the fact that he was also a journalist.
Controversy in 1980
Controversy reigned at the 1980 running of the Gold Cup. Tied Cottage won the race and punters that had backed him celebrated all over the land, only to have their celebrations curtailed when he was disqualified for testing positive for a banned substance in the aftermath of the race.
Golden Miller Was Just 5
When Golden Miller won the Gold Cup for the first time in 1932 he was just five years old. That was somewhat appropriate, considering that Red Splash was also five when he won the first ever Gold Cup jump race in 1924. The only other horse to win the trophy at such a young age was Patron Saint, who did so in 1928.
Two 12 Year Old Winners
The oldest age at which a horse has picked up the small but significant trophy is twelve. That has happened twice, with Silver Fame achieving it in 1951 and What A Myth doing so in in 1969. No horse over the age of nine has won it since ten-year-old Cool Dawn did in 1998.
Mullins Completes The Set
Willie Mullins finally won the Gold Cup in 2019 with Al Boum Photo, completing the set for the trainer that has saddled more Cheltenham Festival winners than anyone else. Prior to this he had come second in the blue riband race no less than 6 times.
He backed this up by winning again in 2020 with Al Boum Photo and Paul Townend for consecutive victories, the first time a horse won back-to-back Gold Cup’s since the Best Made treble in 2002, 2003 and 2004. Mullins was hoping to match that in 2021 but the race was won by a Henry de Bromhead trained horse – although as consolation Mullins won the top trainer title again. De Bromhead won again in 2022 but Mullins got his third win in 5 years when Galopin Des Champs won in 2023 and a third win for Paul Townend too.
Henry de Bromhead Trains Winners Of The Big 3 in 2021
When Jack Kennedy rode home Minella Indo to win the Cup in 2021 for Henry de Bromhead it also completed an historic treble for the trainer. De Bromhead became the first trainer to win the Gold Cup, the Champion Chase and the Champion Hurdle in the same year.
Rachael Blackmore Makes History As First Female Winner
When Rachael Blackmore became the first woman to win a Championship race at Cheltenham when she won the Champion Hurdle in 2021, a feat she repeated in 2022, it made headlines around the world. She had a fantastic 2021 season and few imagined she would go even better in 2022 by winning the Gold Cup. She turned down the ride on Minella Indo in 2021 but chose the right mount this time as favourite A Plus Tard, again trained by Henry de Bromhead, romped home by 15 lengths. Well done Rachael, who also won the Grand National in 2021.
Fitting Winner For The 100th Year
In 2024 The Gold Cup celebrated it’s 100th birthday and so the race attracted even more attention than usual, if that is possible. It was fitting that the 100th year anniversary Cup should be won by Galopin Des Champs for the second-year in a row. The odds on favourite brought home a fourth Gold Cup for Willie Mullins and Paul Townend since 2019 (impressive). He finished runner-up the year after in 2025 going very close to doing three back-t0-back.
Townend Top Jockey & Mullins Top Trainer
Prior to 2019 neither Willie Mullins or his main stable jockey Paul Townend had ever won a Gold Cup. Fast forward 8 years and by 2026 they both had five of them, giving Townend the most wins ever as a jockey overtaking Pat Taaffe’s four wins and Mullins five wins as a trainer which gives him the joint record with Tom Dreaper. You wouldn’t bet against Mullins taking that title outright in the near future and given the history of this race and those he has usurped there is no doubt now, if there was before, that Willie Mullins is the greatest trainer in the history of Cheltenham.
Cheltenham Gold Cup History
The first record of a race called the Cheltenham Gold Cup being run dates all the way back to 1819. It was won by a horse named Spectre, and was run on Cleeve Hill, the hill that looks onto Cheltenham racecourse, so it’s always been around the area.
However, this wasn’t the Cheltenham Gold Cup as we know and love today. It was a very different race at that time.
Fast forward 100 years, and the Cheltenham Gold Cup would come to the fore of British racing, playing an important part in taking the sport forward. At this time, most of the big races were handicaps, but more and more people wanted weight-for-age races to get the best going up against the best.
Other than a handful of other races in the calendar, including the National Hunt Chase, another festival race, there was nothing for the best to run against each other at level weights.
In 1924, the race was run as a weight-for-age steeplechase for the first time, although as it started, the race was nowhere near as valuable as some other contests, including the National Hunt Chase, which remained the biggest race at Cheltenham.
But as the race went through the 40s, 50s and 60s, it grew in popularity, grew in stature, and grew to become the biggest race at the Cheltenham Festival.
Cheltenham Gold Cup Famous Winners
There are four horses who stand above the rest when it comes to winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and one of those puts himself in even higher order.
Golden Miller is the standout Gold Cup great, a five-time winner of the race, holding a record that is unlikely ever to be beaten. There are some people who will tell you that the Gold Cup wasn’t as big or competitive during the 1930s, when he won it five times, and that’s all up for debate, but you can’t fault him for coming back and delivering year after year.
Three other horses have won the race three times. They’ve all done it across consecutive years, and I’ll start with the most recent, because many believe him to be the best.
Trained by Henrietta Knight, Best Mate won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2002, 2003 and 2004, a time when the race was at its peak, it was best against best, and for three years, he was too good.
Go back further in time, the great Arkle, whose name is used for the Arkle Chase at the meeting, also won the Gold Cup three times, in 1964, 1965 and 1966. This was at a time when the race was rapidly improving, and thanks to his success here, Arkle is considered one of the all-time greats.
Finally, going further back, Cottage Rake is the third and final triple winner, landing the Gold Cup in 1948, 1949, and 1950.
For those looking to find some of the more recent big names, none of them has won this contest three times, but some have become dual winners. The great Kauto Star is the only horse to ever win the Gold Cup, lose it and then regain it, with his wins in 2007 and 2009.
More recently, Willie Mullins has had two dual winners of the race, Al Boum Photo in 2019 and 2020 and Galopin Des Champs in 2023 and 2024.
The Greatest Staying Test
At the top level of Grade One racing, there is no test tougher than the Gold Cup, making it the greatest staying test for horses, riders and trainers to win.
Yes, there are handicaps and lower-quality races run over further, but nothing offers this test at the top level, run off the same weights.
Many of the top staying races are three miles, but this race offers an additional two furlongs, and that’s before you think about the Cheltenham hill at the end.
Those two furlongs may not seem much, but they’ve broken many a competitor over the years. We’ve seen great three-mile horses fail to get home and have their reputations ruined by this race.
You need an extra special star quality, supreme staying power, jumping ability and plenty of heart if you want to win this race. Many have tried and failed in the past. Only the very greatest have succeeded.