The 2026 Cheltenham Festival is in the books, and it’s been full of drama and big performances over the four days.
British trainers stood up well to their Irish counterparts, with the Prestbury Cup ending 15-13 to Ireland, a much closer showing than we’ve seen in recent years.
Stars of the show include Lossiemouth and Gaelic Warrior, who gave Rich Ricci a double, winning the Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup. He became the first owner to land those two races in the same week.
The festival looked ultra-competitive beforehand, and in that sense, I think it definitely delivered.
Crowds were up around 8000 across the four days, and the general vibe was that this season’s festival was a positive experience for racegoers.
On the punting front, while there were some big, fancied horses winning throughout the week, I definitely think bookmakers came out on top.
Ireland Win 2026 Prestbury Cup But Brits Getting Closer
Lossiemouth Lights Up Day One
Willie Mullins’ brilliant mare Lossiemouth romped home to her fourth successive Cheltenham Festival win in the Champion Hurdle on day one, to light up Cheltenham and deliver a fantastic performance.
A decision to run in this race and bypass the Mares’ Hurdle that she’d won for the past two years was proven to be the right one, and she was all class, clear at the line by six and a half lengths.
Paul Townend did the steering, and for the final few furlongs, I don’t think it was ever really in doubt. You knew she’d stay, and it felt like the hill would turn into a sprint to the top. She had far more speed than the likes of Brighterdaysahead and The New Lion, who finished in second and third behind her.
Given they’ve taken the step into open Grade One’s away from the mares race, you’d have to assume they’ll stick there now, and this race will be her target next season. Immediately after winning, Lossiemouth was a best price 7/2 to win the 2027 Champion Hurdle.
Dramatic Champion Chase as Majborough’s Jumping Fails
The Champion Chase has been a graveyard for favourites. Eight of the last nine favourites have been turned over in this race. You can now add Majborough to the list, as his jumping fell apart when it mattered the most, leaving him to trail in well behind.
It was a disappointing run from the Mullins gelding, who’s clearly a horse dependent on his mood. He was sublime at the Dublin Racing Festival, the highest rated chaser in training on the back of that, but he went too quickly, pulled hard and jumped terribly at Cheltenham.
The winner was Il Etait Temps, also from the Mullins yard, and he bounced back in style after a really heavy fall at Ascot last time out. He was well-supported, and his win should come as no surprise. He was electric in the Tingle Creek and showcased his abilities as one of the best two-mile chasers in training.
Heart Wood Takes Advantage of Fact to File Absence
The Ryanair Chase on Thursday was impacted heavily by the late withdrawal of Fact To File. Ahead of bidding to win back-to-back renewals of this race, Willie Mullins pulled his runner from the race.
Both he and owner JP McManus had walked the course and felt the ground was too quick, and it was too big a risk to run.
When winning the race last year, he had Heart Wood in second place behind him, and it was Heart Wood who stormed clear up the hill to win this year’s. It’s true, Heart Wood probably has run better than last year, but had the real Fact to File turned up, this race was at his mercy.
It was a timely win for trainer Henry de Bromhead, who, so far in the week, had seen his horses struggle a little.
Home By the Lee Turns Back the Years in Stayers
They say if you don’t succeed, try and try again, and the horse racing equivalent of that is to do what Home By The Lee has done at the Cheltenham Festival.
He was going into the Stayers Hurdle having his fifth run at the festival, without a win, but it was fifth time lucky for the Joseph O’Brien runner, who claimed the staying hurdle feature.
The Dan Skelton-trained Kabral Du Mathan looked the winner all the way, but he failed to stay up the hill and tamely fell into 4th. We’ll probably never see him over three miles again, the way he folded.
Gaelic Warrior Sublime in Gold Cup
It was billed as one of the most competitive Gold Cups in recent years, and the betting market agreed with that. But Paul Townend and Gaelic Warrior had other ideas, turning the race into a procession.
There aren’t many horses that jump the last on the bridle, and fewer do that in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, but that’s where Paul Townend sat on his runner, and Gaelic Warrior powered clear for him, with no problems handling the trip.
He’s emerged as the leading staying chaser, and it would be no surprise at all to see him back here in 12 months’ time as the race favourite.
Mullins Novice Wins
There’s been a bit of talk about whether Willie Mullins is losing his grip on Cheltenham, but he did win four of the Grade One novice races this year, showing he’s got plenty of future firepower in his stable.
The first day saw Kargese land the Arkle Chase, she was followed up by King Rasko Grey and Kitzbuhel on the second day.
Rounding off the four was a surprise in the Triumph Hurdle on the final day, Apolon De Charnie won at 50/1 on what was his first run for Mullins, after coming over from France. Don’t forget that’s twice he’s won it with an outsider, after winning the race at 100/1 last year.
Starter Troubles
One of the big talking points of the week was the starts, with various starters throughout the week coming under fire, and jockeys receiving bans for their behaviour at the start.
We even had an argument and a makeup, but the fact remains, starting procedures is not good enough.
Jockeys are going to push the rules as hard as they can for this meeting. Of course, they are. It’s the biggest meeting of the year. And I’m not sure the starter has enough authority to keep them in check.
This then leaves no one with confidence at the start. Jockeys aren’t sure what will happen. Some horses are left with no chance, and overall, it’s just not a great look for racing.
Something has to fundamentally change with the starting procedure for national hunt racing.
Skelton Handicap Wins
Dan Skelton will be bitterly disappointed with his main graded hopes this week, especially Panic Attack, Kabral Du Mathan and The New Lion, but when it came to the handicaps, it was very different.
Madara in the Plate on Tuesday and Supremely West in the Pertemps Final on Thursday were two of the most talked about handicappers from any yard in the build-up.
During media days and preview evenings, plenty of judges, including Dan himself, put these two up as the best handicap bets of the meeting, and both duly obliged to win their respective races.
It continues the form Skelton has established in Cheltenham handicaps, but he needs to add graded success before you can truly call him the leading British hope at the meeting.