We’ve been waiting for a monster performance from a star horse, and today, the Cheltenham Festival delivered.
It took three days, but we’ve had a winning star, Fact To File the horse, strong favourite for the Ryanair Chase, and he stormed up the Cheltenham hill to give favourite backers something to cheer about.
From the moment Willie Mullins confirmed this horse for the Ryanair Chase, sidestepping the Gold Cup, he’s been market leader and well-backed. Today, he well and truly rewarded punters.
Fact To File Much the Best in Ryanair
From three or four out, there was no doubting which horse was going to win the Ryanair Chase, at least not in my opinion.
He looked every inch a Gold Cup quality horse today, and you wonder just how much the decision around his participation at Cheltenham has been swayed by the fact his trainer, Mullins, also has the Gold Cup superstar Galopin Des Champs in his stable.
If he’d been trained elsewhere, I think it’s more likely he would’ve been in the Gold Cup, but having said that, I think his win here is the perfect stepping stone to build on. When you add that to Galopin Des Champs being a year older next season, if he’s back, I think the plan laid out is actually going to work out quite well for connections.
Exciting 2025/26 Campaign Ahead
This horse looks to have an incredibly exciting campaign ahead of him next season, and we could actually see him again this season, which hasn’t been ruled out by Mullins.
Starting at the very end of 2025, I really hope they bring him over to the UK for the King George because he looks tailor-made for that kind of test. With the stamina to last three miles but the cruising speed to handle Kempton’s test, I think it would be a delight to see him jump around that course.
Quickly after winning the Ryanair Chase, bookmaker Paddy Power installed him as 5/2 favourite to win the King George next season, and I can’t fault them placing him as the favourite.
Then there’s the Cheltenham 2026 conundrum, Ryanair or Gold Cup.
For me, I hope he’s Gold Cup bound, and he’s been shortened for that race, generally around 6/1 or 7/1 with most brands. That’s the most logical step up. I know he’ll race in other races, but the prospect of him going to the Ryanair Chase, King George, and Gold Cup is something that makes a lot of sense.
Is there any prestige in winning the Ryanair Chase twice? I’m not sure there is. He’s been there and done it. It’s time to move on to bigger and better things and go for the big one.
Of course, we’ll all be questioning whether he will stay or not, probably from now until this week next year, and we won’t know that until we get there.
But I’d be hopeful, especially on decent ground, and based on this week’s win, he’d add a ton of class to the race.