That’s it from the 2025 Cheltenham Festival, one that gave us a week of mayhem and mastery, with no little poignancy.
Who better to sum up the final day’s main event than our very own Brian O’Connor.
“If destiny looked to play a role this week, it went AWOL for Friday’s Gold Cup when Inothewayurthinkin quashed the three-in-a-row ambitions of Galopin Des Champs in steeplechasing’s greatest race.”
Thanks for your company, only 360-ish sleeps to go before Cheltenham 2026. See you then.
Leading jockey
4: * Paul Townend, Mark Walsh
* Townend finishes as leading jockey due to one second place versus Walsh’s none
2: Danny Gilligan, Rachael Blackmore, Jonjo O’Neill Jr
14 jockeys on one winner
Leading trainer
10: Willie Mullins
2: Gavin Cromwell, Henry de Bromhead, Nicky Henderson
12 trainers on one winner
Prestbury Cup
Ireland 20, Britain 8
All of today’s winners:
1.20: Triumph Hurdle - Poniros (100/1) - Jonjo O’Neill Jr / Willie Mullins
2.0: County Handicap Hurdle - Kargese (3/1 Fav) - Paul Townend / Willie Mullins
2.40: Mares’ Chase - Dinoblue (6/4 Fav) - Mark Walsh / Willie Mullins
3.20: Novices’ Hurdle – Jasmin De Vaux (6/1) - Paul Townend / Willie Mullins
4.0: Gold Cup - Inothewayurthinkin (15/2) - Mark Walsh / Gavin Cromwell
4.40: The Festival Hunters’ Chase - Wonderwall (28/1) - Rob James / Sam Curling
5.20: Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle – Wodhooh (9/2) - Danny Gilligan / Gordon Elliott
Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle result:
- 1 Wodhooh 9-2
- 2 Act Of Authority 28-1
- 3 Raglan Road 25-1
- 4 Taponthego 8-1
It’s a whitewash for Ireland on the final day of the Festival, Gordon Elliott getting his first winner of the meeting, in the last race, with Wodhooh.
And to the last race of the 2025 Cheltenham Festival......
5.20 Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle
Malachy: The final race of the week has proven itself a terrific pointer to future stars, both equine and human, since its inception in 2009. Galopin Des Champs won it in 2021, Banbridge followed up in 2022. Since it is restricted to conditional riders, the likes of JJ Slevin, Sean O’Keeffe and Danny Gilligan all got their first festival wins in this race.
So what’s likely to have everyone looking to the future here? Well, there might have been no talkier talking horse in the whole build-up to Cheltenham this year than Kopeck De Mee. This horse won three races in France at the end of last season, was bought by JP McManus and subsequently put away for this race. Since it hasn’t run in Britain yet, the handicapper has had to guess at its handicap mark and plenty of judges think he has underestimated him, maybe by as much as a stone.
If that’s the case, the Willie Mullins-trained horse won’t see a rival here with Aidan Kelly aboard. Of the rest, Gilligan could enhance his already fine reputation aboard Wodhooh, the Gordon Elliott horse who is unbeaten in its last six starts. Down the weights, Paul Nolan’s Park Of Kings could have a bit in hand and with Conor Stone Walsh in the saddle, will definitely have one of the best pilots in the race. But if Kopeck De Mee is as well in as everyone thinks it is, it will win by the proverbial half the track.
Here’s the betting:
- 15/8 Kopeck De Mee (Willie Mullins) Aidan Kelly
- 16/5 East India Express (Nicky Henderson) Freddie Gordon
- 4/1 Wodhooh (Gordon Elliott) Danny Gilligan
- 8/1 Taponthego (Henry De Bromhead) Mike O’Connor
- 11/1 No Ordinary Joe (Nicky Henderson) Freddie Gingell
- 16/1 Nurse Susan (Dan Skelton) Tristan Durrell
- 25/1 Bar
The Festival Hunters’ Chase result:
- 1 Wonderwall 28/1
- 2 It’s On The Line 4/1
- 3 Willitgoahead 3/2
- 4 Music Drive 33/1
Wonderwall, trained by Sam Curling in Tipperary and not the Gallagher brothers in Manchester, wins the Foxhunter’s, just about holding off favourite It’s On The Line.
4.40 The Festival Hunters’ Chase
Malachy: Forever known as the Foxhunters, the penultimate race of the festival is the least lucrative of them all but also the one most likely to throw up a small-yard story. This one tends to go to the specialists, so Its On The Line will need watching since Emmet Mullins’s horse has finished second in this race for the past two years.
Angels Dawn might just have too much class though, having won the Kim Muir at the festival in 2023 and having been well in the hunt when falling last year. One to keep an eye out for is Shearer, named after the man himself, trained by Paul Nicholls. It is two from two this season and might just do the trick.
Here’s the betting:
16/5 Angels Dawn (S Curling) Mr P A King
16/5 Its On The Line (Emmet Mullins) Mr Derek O’Connor
11/2 Shearer (Paul Nicholls) Miss Olive Nicholls
Unbridled joy for the JP the McManus team after Inothewayurthinkin’s Gold Cup triumph, but desperate sadness on hearing that Corbett’s Cross sustained a fatal injury in the race.
Gold Cup result:
- 1 Inothewayurthinkin (M P Walsh) 15-2
- 2 Galopin Des Champs (P Townend) 8-13 Fav
- 3 Gentlemansgame (D J O’Keeffe) 40-1
9 ran
Also: 8-1 Monty’s Star 4th
Winning jockey Mark Walsh: “I am dancing inside. Gavin Cromwell’s a genius to train him this way. He’s a homebred, too, which makes it extra special.”
Gavin Cromwell’s Inothewayurthinkin, ridden by Mark Walsh and owned by JP McManus, has won the Gold Cup! Galopin Des Champs finishes second.
Galopin Des Champs back in sixth, but with a long way to go. Ahoy Senor the early leader ahead of The Real Whacker and Gentlemansgame.
The 2025 Gold Cup is under way. History or heartache? Nerves jangling. You’d be tempted to go for a long walk.
4.0 The Cheltenham Gold Cup (Grade One)
Malachy: The big one. The race the whole week has been leading to, maybe the race that the whole of the past three seasons have been leading to. After all the talking and all the chattering, one question remains to be answered – can Galopin Des Champs make history and take home a third Gold Cup in a row?
Certainly, it looks like most of his competitors believe so. Galopin Des Champs’s domination of this race over the past two years has thinned out the field, with the 13 who took their chance in 2022 down to just nine now.
Only once in the past 50 years have fewer than nine horse gone to post for the Gold Cup – and it would have been eight had Gavin Cromwell not made the late decision to supplement Iknowthewayurthinkin.
Can anything beat Mullins and Townend here? While this week has shown time and again that nothing is guaranteed, it’s so hard to see anything other than a fall stopping the three in a row.
Banbridge was fantastic in the King George at Christmas but is unproven at the trip. Monty’s Star wasn’t able to lay a glove on Galopin Des Champs at Leopardstown, Corbetts Cross has flattered to deceive since winning the National Hunt Chase last year.
Calamity aside, this looks like history should only be a matter of Galopin Des Champs turning up and staying upright. Let’s see.
Here’s the betting:
- 1/2 Galopin Des Champs (Willie Mullins) Paul Townend
- 13/2 Inothewayurthinkin (Gavin Cromwell) Mark Walsh
- 7/1 Banbridge (Joseph O’Brien) JJ Slevin
- 12/1 Corbetts Cross (Emmet Mullins) Jack Kennedy
- 11/1 Monty’s Star (Henry De Bromhead) Rachael Blackmore
40/1 Bar
So, not only has Willie Mullins won the first four races of the day, won the leading trainer gong again and matched his record of 10 wins at the Festival, he’s about to go for a dollop of history in the Gold Cup. As weeks go, that’s half decent.
Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdle result
- 1 Jasmin De Vaux 9/2
- 2 The Big Westerner 4/1
- 3 Derryhassen Paddy 8/1
You won’t believe this - actually, you probably will: Willie Mullins and Paul Townend have won again, this time with Jasmin De Vaux. Incredible.
It’s a compact field with two to go, Wingmen leading ahead of Derryhassen Paddy and Jax Junior.
And they’re off in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle - we haven’t had a false start (yet) today, mercifully.
Incidentally, should Wendigo triumph in this one, it’ll be a rather crowded winner’s enclosure - he has 4,000 owners. The syndicate, said trainer Jamie Snowden, includes everyone “from our postman to the King”, so there’ll be an eclectic range of voices cheering him on.
3.20 Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle
Malachy: This three-mile novice hurdle race has lost a bit of its lustre in recent years with lots of trainers deciding it too gruelling an ask of young horses. As a consequence, finding the winner of it has become almost impossible – if trainers aren’t sending the very best horses they have here, then you’re left with a lot of horses who are much of a muchness and picking one that is a bit less middling than the others is a devilish task.
It’s probably no surprise then that 10 out of the last 11 winners have gone off at double-figure prices, including three winners at 33/1 and one at 50/1. Mind you, the 50/1 was Minella Indo for Rachael Blackmore and it went on to win a Gold Cup a couple of years later, so there can be some gems in here.
Is there one this year? The Big Westerner seems to be the one people have picked out, and there’ll be a spring in the step of the Henry de Bromhead camp after Wednesday’s Air Of Entitlement and Bob Olinger double.
Jasmin De Vaux has festival form but is a suspect jumper, Wingmen has form in behind the best of the Irish in Wednesday’s Turners. So maybe it will pay to take a swing at an outsider instead – Sounds Victorious might have a nice ring to it?
Here’s the betting:
- 4/1 The Big Westerner (Henry De Bromhead) Darragh O’Keeffe
- 5/1 Jet Blue (David Cottin) James Reveley
- 9/2 Jasmin De Vaux (Willie Mullins) Paul Townend
- 8/1 Derryhassen Paddy (Lucinda Russell) Derek Fox
- 9/1 Wendigo (Jamie Snowden) Gavin Sheehan
- 15/2 Wingmen (Gordon Elliott) Jack Kennedy
- 12/1 Bar
Unforgiving analysis from Ruby here....
Mares’ Chase result
- 1 Dinoblue 5/4
- 2 Brides Hill 9/2
- 3 Shecouldbeanything 9/2
It’s yet another win for Willie Mullins with Dinoblue - Allegorie De Vassy, who was in second, fell at the last. That makes it Mullins 9, Britain 8 - a hoot. Mullins says that Allegorie De Vassy and Paul Townend appear to be fine after their fall.
Three fences to go and Allegorie De Vassy leads Dinoblue and Brides Hill.
The Mares’ Chase is up and running, can Dinoblue or Allegorie De Vassy make it three-in-a-row for Willie Mullins today?
2.40 Mares’ Chase
Malachy: This has become a slightly dull race with the same names coming back to oppose each other in it as last year. On that occasion, Gavin Cromwell’s Limerick Lace got first run on Dinoblue, catching the Willie Mullins horse slightly on the hop and skating up the hill in front. Plenty fancy Dinoblue to turn that form around here, particularly since she beat stablemate Allegory De Vassy in Naas last month despite conceding weight.
There doesn’t seem to be much of a British challenge in this one – Venetia Williams can generally be relied upon to find a contender or two at Cheltenham each year but her runner in this race Fontaine Collonges has done most of its best work on heavier ground than this.
Here’s the betting:
- 11/8 Dinoblue (Willie Mullins) Mark Walsh
- 4/1 Allegorie De Vassy (Willie Mullins) Paul Townend
- 7/2 Brides Hill (Gavin Cromwell) Keith Donoghue
- 11/2 Limerick Lace (Gavin Cromwell) Jack Kennedy
- 10/1 Shecouldbeanything (Gordon Elliott) Sam Ewing
- 50/1 Bar
Horse racing is meant to be enjoyable ......
That’s Willie Mullins' eighth winner of the week - and with Dinoblue and Allegorie De Vassy leading the betting for the next race, the Mares’ Chase, Kopeck De Mee the favourite for the last, the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle, and a certain Galopin Des Champs in with a shout in the Gold Cup, he’s unlikely to be done yet.
County Handicap Hurdle result
- 1 Kargese 3/1
- 2 Ndaawi 25/1
- 3 Absurde 9/2
It’s another Willie Mullins winner, Paul Townend timing his run on Kargese to perfection!
Two hurdles to go and it’s Our Champ and Spirit Daunou out in front, but it’s all very tightly packed.
The County Handicap Hurdle is under way, the way things have been going for the bookies they’ll expect 50-1 outsider Norman Fletcher to triumph.
2.0 County Handicap Hurdle
Malachy: This could turn out to be very simple altogether. Willie Mullins has won this race seven times, Paul Townend has won it four times. They won it together last year on Absurde but even though that horse is in the race again this time around, Townend has got off it to ride Kargese.
Since this time last year, the only horses to beat Kargese are Majborough, Sir Gino and Take No chances, who was third in the Mares’ Hurdle on Tuesday. The County Hurdle is never straightforward – and Joseph O’Brien’s Lark In The Morning has festival form so can’t be dismissed. But don’t be surprised if Kargese is just a class above the rest of these.
Here’s the betting:
- 3/1 Kargese (Willie Mullins) Paul Townend
- 4/1 Lark In The Mountain (Joseph O’Brien) JJ Slevin
- 9/2 Absurde (Willie Mullins) Danny Mullins
- 9/1 Valgrand (Dan Skelton) Harry Skelton
- 17/2 McLaurey (Emmet Mullins) Mark Walsh
- 14/1 Bar
Triumph Hurdle result
- 1 Poniros 100/1
- 2 Lulamba 11/4
- 3 East India Dock 5/4f
Even Willie Mullins is gobsmacked....
Willie Mullins’ debutant Poniros, ridden by Jonjo O’Neill Jr, is the shock winner - at 100/1! The bookies are jiggin' and reelin'.
Lady Vega Allen leading East India Dock and Lulamba with three hurdles to go.
And they’re off in the Triumph Hurdle.
1.20 Triumph Hurdle (Grade One)
Malachy: The prestige race of the season for juvenile hurdlers, the Triumph Hurdle has tended to throw up some really top class horses in recent years, among them former winners Clair Soleil, Persian War, Kribensis and Katchit who all went to success in the Champion Hurdle. Another former winner you might just have heard of was Tiger Roll, the Grand National victor in 2018 and 2019.
Willie Mullins has had four of the last five winners of the race, including Majborough and Lossiemouth, but the leading fancies this time around are from English yards. East India Dock for James Owens would undoubtedly be a shorter price if it bedded down in Mullins’ yard and has been untouchable in his three races so far this season in England.
Nicky Henderson’s Lulamba is similarly well-regarded, having been impressive in Ascot in January. Hello Neighbour for Gavin Cromwell seems the best of the Irish, although Mullins does have a scarcely credible 11 (!) horses in this and has already shown plenty of capacity this week to win with an outsider.
You can read Brian’s preview of the race here:
Here’s the betting:
- 5/4 East India Dock (James Owen) Sam Twiston-Davies
- 11/4 Lulamba (Nicky Henderson) Nico de Boinville
- 9/2 Hello Neighbour (Gavin Cromwell) Keith Donoghue
- 12/1 Lady Vega Allen (Willie Mullins) Paul Townend
- 22/1 Gibbs Island (Tom Lacey) Stan Sheppard
- 40/1 Bar
By the way, if you sense that the previews you’ll read for each of today’s races sound suspiciously well-informed, that’s because Malachy Clerkin wrote them. So, if any of his fancies come a cropper, you know who to contact. His mobile phone number is available on request. The first preview is coming up.
Gold Cup - the last decade:
- 2016: Don Cossack (Gordon Elliott) Bryan Cooper
- 2017: Sizing John (Jessica Harrington) Robbie Power
- 2018: Native River (Colin Tizzard) Richard Johnson
- 2019: Al Boum Photo (Willie Mullins) Paul Townend
- 2020: Al Boum Photo (Willie Mullins) Paul Townend
- 2021: Minella Indo (Henry De Bromhead) Jack Kennedy
- 2022: A Plus Tard (Henry De Bromhead) Rachael Blackmore
- 2023: Galopin Des Champs (Willie Mullins) Paul Townend
- 2024: Galopin Des Champs (Willie Mullins) Paul Townend
- 2025: ?
That’s some Irish record, only Native River interrupting the streak. Will it be nine out of the last 10 today? If Galopin Des Champs makes it so, then Paul Townend will overtake Pat Taaffe (Arkle (3) and Fort Leney) as the Gold Cup’s most successful jockey with five wins. And Willie Mullins will equal Tom Dreaper’s trainer record of five victories (Prince Regent, Arkle (3) and Fort Leney).
Going in to the final day....
Leading jockey
2: Rachael Blackmore, Paul Townend, Mark Walsh
1: Nico de Boinville, Keith Donoghue, Sean Flanagan, Harry Skelton, Danny Mullins, Danny Gilligan, Ben Jones, Seán O’Keeffe, Brian Hughes, Harry Cobden, Jody Townend, Lorcan Williams, Barry Stone, Paddy Wadge, Jonjo O’Neill Jr
Leading trainer
6: Willie Mullins
2: Henry de Bromhead, Nicky Henderson
Prestbury Cup
Ireland 13, Britain 8
There’s a person wandering around Cheltenham dressed as the Gold Cup because, well, why not?
After a frosty night, the going for today is good to soft.
And so we come to the final day of a memorable Cheltenham Festival, one that has produced no end of terrific stories but all of which might just be trumped if Galopin Des Champs can complete a Gold Cup three-in-a-row.
In doing so, he would become only the fifth horse - after Golden Miller (1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936), Cottage Rake (1948, 1949, 1950), Arkle (1964, 1965, 1966) and Best Mate (2002, 2003, 2004) - to win it three times or more, and the first since Best Mate to do it three times on the trot.
And to top all those chunks of history, his trainer Willie Mullins said he would regard him as his greatest ever horse if he achieves the feat. And coming from Willie Mullins, that’s some accolade.
Earlier in the week, Galopin’s groom Adam Connolly told the BBC about how big-headed the horse can be, and “the more he wins, the bigger he gets in himself”. Can you imagine him today if he triumphs? There’ll be no livin’ with him.
Brian O’Connor previews Galopin Des Champs' shot at steeplechasing immortality.
More of the Gold Cup anon, we have four races before then, and two more to wind up the meeting after the big one. And you have some more reading to do too, Brian reflecting on another magical Cheltenham day for Henry de Bromhead and Rachael Blackmore on Thursday.
