• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Cheltenham Betting Offers

  • Home
  • Free Bets
  • Meetings
    • New Year’s Day Meeting
    • Festival Trials Day
    • Cheltenham Festival
    • April Meeting
    • Race Night
    • Showcase Meeting
    • November Meeting
    • International Meeting
  • News
  • Articles
    • Stats & Trends

What Is The Prestbury Cup At The Cheltenham Festival? Ireland v Britain

british v irish prestbury cup standings at cheltenham festivalWhen the Cheltenham Festival rolls around, most people want to have a bet on the horses that will win the various races that take place during the week. Some will branch out a little bit and place a wager on the Champion Trainer, mulling up whether to opt for Willie Mullins, Nicky Henderson or another one of the many options open to them. Few people consider whether or not to bet on the Prestbury Cup, however.

That’s because not everyone will have heard of the Prestbury Cup, which is a trophy awarded to either the British or the Irish depending on which nation manages to gain the most winners during Festival week. It doesn’t matter when a horse wins the Gold Cup or the Mares’ Hurdle, if they get a win on the board then that counts towards the nation that they were trained’s Prestbury Cup tally. We’ll explain it more here.

2023 Prestbury Cup Standings: British v Irish Trainers

British Flag
10
Irish Flag
18
Last Updated: Friday 17th March 2023

The Prestbury Cup Explained

british irish flag 1Will British trained horses notch up more wins during the Cheltenham Festival, or will that honour be taken by horses trained in Ireland? That’s the question that is asked by those that award the Prestbury Cup. It is a question that was asked for years before the Prestbury Cup’s invention, actually, ever since Cottage Rake won his first Gold Cup and the Irish fell in love with the Festival.

The competition between the British and Irish trainers was made official in 2014 when the Prestbury Cup was awarded for the first time. In order to win it, one of the nations has to win 15 or more of the 28 races on offer during Festival week, with both nations winning 14 apiece ending up in a tie.

Of course, there are trainers of other nationalities at the Festival so in theory you may not need to get to 15 to win, in reality since the cup started only one horse has won a race that wasn’t trained in Britain or Ireland.  That French winner was, however, in 2020 so perhaps in time the Prestbury Cup will be opened up more widely to other nations.

A piece of the actual turn from the racecourse is inserted into the cup, so a part of Cheltenham always goes home with the winners.

Previous Winners

We will try to update this section of the site every year to ensure that the current list of winners of the Prestbury Cup is kept up-to-date. That’s because it’s impossible not to talk about the Prestbury Cup without considering whether or not the British or the Irish have done better at it over the years. The simple answer is that it changes from year to year, with the British starting well and the Irish coming roaring back more recently.

Given that the Prestbury Cup wasn’t created until 2014, there isn’t currently a huge amount of information to work with. The British would doubtless complain that the countless years that they won more races than the Irish aren’t taken into account when using that as the starting date, but given that that is the official year that the competition in its current format got underway, it’s what we have to use as our starting point.

Here is the official tally of the winners of the Prestbury Cup from 2014 until the modern day:

Year Total Number Of Races British Winners Irish Winners Cup Winners
2023 28 10 18 Ireland
2022 28 10 18 Ireland
2021 28 5 23 Ireland
2020 28 10 17 Ireland
2019 28 14 14 Tie
2018 28 11 17 Ireland
2017 28 9 19 Ireland
2016 28 13 15 Ireland
2015 27 14 13 Britain
2014 27 15 12 Britain
Total – 111 (11  Average) 166 (17  Average) Britain 2 Ireland 7 Draw 1

Across the ten years of action that the Prestbury Cup has been in existence for, there have been 278 races in total. Of those, the Irish have won 166 and the British have won 111, with one race being won by a French-trained horse. Put another way, the Irish have won 59.7% of all races across those years compared to the British winning 40.0% of them. In other words, the Irish currently have the upper hand.

Whilst the Irish might be leading the way right now, it won’t last forever. We’ll see in the coming years whether the likes of Brexit will have an impact on the Irish ability to dominate at the Cheltenham Festival, whilst Willie Mullins will surely consider retirement at some stage. The battle for the Prestbury Cup will always be a fierce one, so it’s exciting to see how it pans out in the future.

Prestbury Cup History

british irish flag smoke

Cottage Rake, an Irish-trained horse, won the Gold Cup for the first time in 1948. That event alone would have been enough for many from the Emerald Isle to fall in love with events that take place at Prestbury Park every March, but when he won it again in 1949 and then got the hat-trick in 1950 the relationship between the Cheltenham Festival and Irish horse racing lovers was set in stone.

There has long been a complicated relationship between the Irish and the British, which is far too complex to go into here. Sufficed to say, however, that the idea of a bit of friendly competition appealed to all parties, especially the British when they racked up more winners than their neighbours more often than not. Cottage Rake turned out to be the exception that proved the rule: the Irish couldn’t train racehorses.

Irish Take A While To Win Consistently

british irish flag buttonsGiven that Cottage Rake’s only other particularly noteworthy wins as a horse came in the Irish Cesarewitch and the King George VI Chase, you can understand why many felt that the horse just loved running in Gloucestershire. It was the spark that lit the touch paper of Ireland’s love for the Cheltenham Festival, but if they were hoping that it was also be the start of an Irish conquering of the British meeting then they were left disappointed.

It took trainers from the Emerald Isle decades to win at Prestbury Park on a regular basis, with winners coming in fits and starts rather than any sort of concerted effort. That can be demonstrated by the fact that just 5% of the winners of races in the 1988 Festival were Irish, creeping to just over 10% two years later. To make matters worse, zero Irish horses managed to make it into the Winner’s Enclosure in the intervening year.

The Millennium Sees Things Change

willie mullins get a trophyThere were sporadic numbers of Irish-trained winners during the 1980s and 1990s, but never enough for the country to get properly excited about. The numbers began to rise steadily, if not impressively, after the turn of the millennium. Once the 2010s hit, however, things began to change more rapidly for the Irish, not least of all because of the ever-growing influence of a trainer named Willie Mullins.

When you realise that 2010 was the last time that the Champion Hurdle was run without a single horse that emerged from Mullins’ yard, you can get a sense of just how important he has been to the success of the Irish at the Gloucestershire racecourse. Irish runners outperformed their British counterparts to such an extent that a bet on all of them during the 2011, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018 and 2019 Festivals would have left you in profit.

Mullins & Elliott Take Control

gordon elliot horse transport truckBetween 2010 and 2019, there were 129 Irish-trained winners at the Cheltenham Festival. Of those, 75 of them came from the yards of either Gordon Elliott or Willie Mullins. If that doesn’t indicate just how important those two trainers are to Ireland’s hopes of success at Prestbury Park then perhaps nothing will, with Mullins being the more prolific of the two thanks to his 50 of those wins.

Names such as Henry de Bromhead, Jessica Harrington and Tony Martin are all well-known in the jump racing world, yet all of them trail behind Mullins in virtually every respect. They all help to add winners to the Prestbury Cup tally, but when you consider that Mullins has won pretty much every race that takes place during Festival week you realise that he’s the true driving force behind the country’s success.

Mullins Pips De Bromhead In Irish Walkover, But He Won’t Mind

henry de bromhead in cheltenham racecourse parade ringThe 2021 Festival was unique in the fact it was held behind closed doors due to Covid-19 restrictions in place at the time.  This, however, did absolutely nothing to change the wind when it came to Irish domination, with Irish trainers winning 23 out of 28 races, a staggering 82%.

While Prestbury Cup was a walkover long before the final day started but what was not clear was who would be top trainer.  Henry de Bromhead was leading Willie Mullins 6-5 before the start of the Gold Cup thanks to wins in the likes of the Champion Hurdle (where Rachael Blackmore became the first female jockey to win the race) and the Queen Mothers Champions Chase.

De Bromhead won the first race of the day and with Mullins one behind Henry pulled out a spectacular victory in the Gold Cup to make the lead to 7-5 with two races to go.  In traditional Mullins fashion though he went and won the final two races to make it 7-7 and take the top trainer title thanks to more place finishes.  De Bromhead won’t mind though as he became the first ever trainer to win the Champion Hurlde, Champion Chase and Gold Cup at the same meeting.

Mullins Sets A New Record With 10 Wins

willie mullins and paul townend recive trophies for winning the ballymore novices hurdle at cheltenham festival

There seems to be no end to the number of records Willie Mullins will break at Cheltenham.  It is hard to ever imagine someone beating him being honest.  In 2022 he solidified his legendary status with an incredible 10 wins from 28 races, that nearly 36% of all the races and just under 56% of the races won by Irish trainers that year.

The record he beat was 8 wins and who held that record, it was Mullins of course, meaning even when he doesn’t have anyone else to beat he is still motivated to beat himself.

Without Mullins the race between the British and the Irish would certainly be closer but there is no denying he totally deserves his status and achievements.  Mullins even managed to win the Champion Chase in 2022, the one big race that had eluded him up to.  This means Mullins has now won all four of the Championship races.

Why Have The Irish Been So Successful In Modern Times?

irish horseFrom 2010 to 2019, horses trained in Ireland have won 39 handicap events, with the split being 24 to 15 in favour of hurdles over steeplechases. That can’t be pinned on Mullins’ success, given that 42 of his 50 wins during that period of time came in non-handicap Graded races. Instead, it is suggestive of the Irish getting a helping hand from the handicapper, who decides the weights that each horse in a handicap event will carry.

Between 2010 and 2015, the Irish won 27% of the handicap races. That increased to 52% during the end of the period that we’re looking at, meaning that the figures indicate that the Irish dominance has been largely thanks to the handicap races that the horses are entered into. In the 2017 Festival, for example, Irish horses won seven of the ten handicap races that they took part in, showing that they travel very well to Cheltenham.

Born in 1956 Willie Mullins will due to retire at some point in the coming years and with Gordon Elliott’s stumbling a little following his ban in 2021, it is possible the Cup could swing back to Britain in coming years.  Elliott is a relatively young trainer though and if he can get over the difficulties he caused himself with a dead horse photograph then perhaps he can still be the next Willie Mullins, or even better.  There are plenty of other elite Irish trainers though that can come and fill the void.  The question is can the Brits keep up?

Leopardstown Is The Perfect Preparation

leopardstown racecourse
Sarah777, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Arguably the biggest meeting that takes place before the Cheltenham Festival gets underway is the one at Leopardstown in Ireland. There were 78 Irish-trained winning horses at the Festivals that took place between 2015 and 2019, of which 29 of them ran at Leoparstown for their final race before heading to Gloucestershire. The fact that the Irish track bears similarities to Cheltenham undoubtedly helps.

Both tracks are run left-handed and the paid of them are known to be galloping tracks, which means that the practice that horses get at Leopardstown sets them up perfectly for their run outs at Prestbury Park. Twenty-one of the 29 Irish winners we’re referring to either won their Leopardstown race or else came second, meaning that Irish horses are given a chance to find their form ahead of the Festival’s commencement.

Where The Trophy Gets Its Name

cheltenham gold cup representationYou can read about the history of the Cheltenham Festival in-depth elsewhere on this site, but those of you that already have will know that the meeting’s beginnings were initially somewhat fractious. The first ever horse racing meeting in the area saw hundreds of people turn out to Nottingham Hill to whoop and cheer as the horses ran around a somewhat improvised circuit, with Confederacy winning the Gloucestershire Stakes.

In 1818, three years after that initial meeting, a more formal and organised one took place at Cleeve Hill. For a number of reasons, it was decided that the races couldn’t remain at their new location, instead seeing them moved to nearby Prestbury Park in 1831. That soon became the permanent home of the course that would grow to become Cheltenham Racecourse as we know and understand it to be today.

Geographically, the closest village to where the racecourse stands is one called Prestbury. The village is linked to both the local park and the racecourse, with the course itself often referred to by people as Prestbury Park. Was the new trophy named after the village of Prestbury or the park that the racing took place on? That’s something that is a matter of some debate, but to all intents and purposes it doesn’t really matter much.

Primary Sidebar

Cheltenham Free Bets

Meetings at Cheltenham

  • Cheltenham Festival
    • Champion Day
    • Ladies Day
    • St Patrick’s Thursday
    • Gold Cup Day
  • Festival Trials Day
  • New Year’s Day
  • November Meeting
    • Countryside Day
    • Gold Cup Day
    • November Meeting Sunday
  • Race Night
  • Showcase Meeting
    • The Showcase Friday
    • The Showcase Saturday
  • The April Meeting
    • April Meeting Day One
    • April Meeting Day Two
  • The International Meeting
    • International Friday
    • International Saturday

Race Types

  • Amateur Races
  • Championship Races
  • Conditions Races
  • Cross Country Races
  • Cup Races
  • Fillies' Races
  • Grade 1 Races
  • Grade 2 Races
  • Grade 3 Races
  • Handicap Races
  • Hurdle Races
  • Juvenile Races
  • Listed Races
  • Maiden Races
  • Mares' Races
  • Novices' Races
  • Premier Handicap Races
  • Standard Open Flat Races
  • Steeplechase Races
  • Trial Races
  • Trophy Races
  • Discontinued Races

Latest News

  • 2023 Cheltenham Festival Attendance Significantly Down On 2022
  • Why Is Horse Racing More at Risk from the Gambling Review?
  • Cheltenham Festival 2023 Review: Constitution Hill Is A Superstar, Mullins & The Irish At It Again
  • Soft Ground Expected For Cheltenham Following Snow
  • Will Willie Mullins Train More Winners Than Britain At The 2023 Cheltenham Festival?

Articles

  • Why Was The 2001 Cheltenham Festival Cancelled?
  • What Is The National Stud?
  • What Is A NAP?
  • Did The Romans Create Our Love Of Racing & Gambling?
  • The Biggest Bets Placed On Horse Racing
  • What Is The Maximum Field Size?
  • Careers In Racing
  • What Happens To A Horse When It Falls
  • Do Bookies Leave Racecourses Early To Avoid Paying Out?
  • Are There Any Truly Wild Horses?
  • Who Are The BHA?
  • Origins Of Steeplechasing
  • Is Horse Racing Too Traditional? Why Is It So Confusing?
  • Robot Horse Racing
  • Are There More Fatalities On Hard Ground In Horse Racing?
  • Types Of Jump Racing Fences
  • Biggest Comebacks In Horse Racing
  • Difference Between A Hurdle & A Fence In Jump Racing
  • What Are Hurdles & Fences Made From?
  • Why Are Race Distances Measured In Miles, Furlongs & Yards
  • Stag And Hen Do's At Cheltenham
  • Each-Way vs Place Betting: Which Is Better?
  • What Are Final Declarations
  • Does Illegal Horse Racing Still Happen?
  • What Is Pony Racing? How Is It Different To Horse Racing?
  • Ladies At The Races
  • What Do Nose, Head, Neck and Length Mean?
  • What Is A Furlong?
  • When Is A Race Declared Void?
  • False Starts In Horse Racing
  • What Are Official Ratings in Horse Racing?
  • Can You Run A Race With Only One Horse?
  • What Is Point To Point Racing
  • Best Day Of The Cheltenham Festival
  • How Much Does It Cost To Buy and Train a Racehorse?
  • Cheltenham Festival Ticket Types
  • How Much Does Racing Make From The Betting Levy?
  • Are There Less Horse Deaths In Racing Today?
  • Origins Of Jockey Silks In Horse Racing & Rules
  • Can A Jockey Remount A Horse?
  • What Happens If No Horse Wins A Race?
  • Why Do Horses Jump Fences?
  • How High and Far Can A Horse Jump?
  • Use Of The Whip In Horse Racing
  • What Are The Different Types Of Racehorses?
  • Who Sponsors Cheltenham Races
  • How Do Racehorse Owner Syndicates Work?
  • How Much Do Racehorses Weigh?
  • How Does Travelling Affect Racehorse Performance?
  • What PPE Do Jockeys Wear And Why?
  • Can Racehorses Overheat?
  • Benefits Of Owning Race Horses
  • What Is The Top Speed Of A Racehorse?
  • Do Racehorses Have Special Diets & Nutrition?
  • How Are Racehorses Transported & What Are The Rules
  • What Happened To All-Weather Jumps Racing?
  • What Was Tic Tac? The Sign Language For On-Course Bookmakers
  • The Road To Cheltenham
  • Retraining of Racehorses
  • What Happens To Retired Racehorses?
  • Horse Racing Mix-Ups
  • Youngest Jockeys In Horse Racing History
  • What Are Blinkers & Why Do Race Horses Wear Them?
  • How Long Do You Have To Claim A Winning Bet At A Racecourse?
  • Female Jockey Pioneers
  • Oldest Jockeys In Horse Racing History
  • Record Jockey Wins For Cheltenham Festival Races
  • Record Trainer Wins For Cheltenham Festival Races
  • Cheltenham Festival Races Record Horse Wins
  • Biggest Prize Money Races At The Cheltenham Festival
  • The Life Of A Racing Jockey
  • Races With The Most Fences At The Cheltenham Festival
  • How Often Do Mares' Win At The Cheltenham Festival
  • Average Winner Age Cheltenham Festival Races
  • Longest Races At The Cheltenham Festival
  • Cheltenham Festival's Newest Races
  • How Often Does the Favourite Win at the Cheltenham Festival?
  • Average Winner Odds Cheltenham Festival Races
  • Cheltenham Festival Stats & Trends
  • Veganism & Horse Racing
  • Horse Doping In Horse Racing
  • Most Feared Fences In Horse Racing
  • Jockey Injuries
  • How To Become A Jockey
  • Horse Injuries
  • What Is Going In Horse Racing
  • Richest Races In Horse Racing
  • What Is The Starting Price In Racing
  • When Is The Best Time To Bet Ante-Post
  • Impact Of Wetter Winters On UK Jump Racing
  • How Long Do Racehorses Live For?
  • How Much Do Jockeys Weigh?
  • Rules For Naming Race Horses
  • What Is A Dead Heat In Horse Racing?
  • Who Would Win A Race Between A Horse And A Dog?
  • What Makes A Good Jump Stayer?
  • What Is A Stewards Enquiry?
  • Why Are Horses Disqualified and Who Decides?
  • Courses At Cheltenham: Old, New and Cross Country
  • How Are Jump Horses Trained Differently To Flat Horses?
  • Longest Odds Winners In Horse Racing History
  • How Much Money Is Bet At Cheltenham?
  • How Much Is Cheltenham Worth To The Economy?
  • Top 5 Cheltenham Festival Owners
  • Accessibility At Cheltenham The Cheltenham Festival
  • Cheltenham Festival's Oldest Race Still Running
  • Biggest Female Trainers
  • Celebrity Race Horse Owners
  • Can Jockeys, Trainers & Owners Bet?
  • British vs Irish Trainers And Stables At Cheltenham
  • Things To Do & Places To Visit In Cheltenham
  • The Royal Family And The Cheltenham Festival
  • How Much Does It Cost To Be An On-Course Bookmaker?
  • How Much Money Do Race Horse Owners Make?
  • How Much Money Do Trainers Make?
  • Cheltenham Race Types
  • Cheltenham Hotels & Cheltenham Festival Accommodation
  • Top 5 Cheltenham Festival Trainers
  • Top 5 Cheltenham Festival Jockeys
  • Top 10 Cheltenham Festival Horses
  • How Much Money Do Jockeys Make?
  • Richest Jockeys In Horse Racing History
  • Getting To Cheltenham Racecourse
  • Cheltenham Festival vs Grand National, Which Is Better?
  • Cheltenham Racecourse History
  • Why Is The Cheltenham Festival So Big?
  • Cheltenham Festival History
  • The Prestbury Cup
  • Cheltenham Festival Quiz
  • Cheltenham Festival Top Trainer
  • Cheltenham Festival Top Jockey
  • Cheltenham Racecourse During The War
  • Ante-Post Betting - Risk vs Reward
  • Jump Racing Distances
  • How to Read a Race Card
  • How To Bet On Horse Racing
  • Disqualification, Non-Runners and Rule 4
  • Age, Sex and Weight in Horse Racing
  • History And About National Hunt Racing
  • A-Z Glossary Of Horse Racing Terms
  • Horse Racing News, Statistics & Blogs
  • Live Streaming of Horse Racing
  • Live Betting In Play On Horse Racing
  • Cash Out And Partial Cash Out On Horse Racing
  • Grades and Classes In National Hunt Jump Racing

Offers

  • Cheltenham Free Bets
  • Irish Free Bets
  • Acca Offers For Horse Racing
  • Extra Places Each-Way & Enhanced Each Way Terms Cheltenham Festival 2024
  • Horse Racing Loyalty Free Bet Clubs
  • Horse Racing Money Back
  • Best Odds Guaranteed For The Cheltenham Festival
  • Tote and Totepool Betting
  • Lucky Bets and Bonuses For Horse Racing
  • Non-Runner No Bet
  • Free Bets And Bonuses For Winners
  • Best Odds Guaranteed For Horse Racing
  • Faller & Fail To Finish Insurance For Horse Racing

Copyright © 2023 CheltenhamBettingOffers.com | 18+ Gamble Aware | Privacy & Cookie Policy