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The 2024 Cheltenham Festival followed what has become a familiar pattern in recent years, with Ireland winning the Prestbury Cup again with a final score of 18-9. As usual, 28 races were originally scheduled, but the Cross Country Chase, on day two, was called off and not rescheduled after 11mm of rain fell on the course on the opening day and parts of the course were waterlogged.

Four of the five ‘feature’ races of the week were won by Irish-trained horses, with Protektorat, trained by Dan Skelton, in the Ryanair Chase the only domestic representative to prevail. In the absence of reigning champion Constitution Hill, the Champion Hurdle was left at the mercy of the 2023 runner-up, State Man, trained by Willie Mullins, who justified odds of 2/5 with a minimum of fuss. Captain Guinness, trained by Henry de Bromhead and ridden by Rachael Blackmore, won the Queen Mother Champion Chase and Teahupoo, trained by Gordon Elliott and ridden by Jack Kennedy the Stayers’ Hurdle. Protektorat aside, Warwickshire trainer Dan Skelton saddled four more winners during the week but, rather predictably, Willie Mullins saddled seven winners in all to

seal his eleventh leading trainer title in the last 14 years.

An impressive, 23-length winner of the Savills Chase at Leopardstown over Christmas and an easy, 4½-length winner of the Irish Gold Cup over the same course and distance in early February, Galopin Des Champs, trained by Willie Mullins, was considered ‘banker’ material in the Cheltenham Gold Cup by many. So it proved in the race itself, with the odds-on favourite sent into a clear lead between the last two fences by jockey Paul Townend and maintaining the advantage all the way to the winning line. Gerri Colombe, trained by Gordon Elliott, could make no impression on the run-in and finished second, beaten 3½ lengths, while Corach Rambler weakened to finish third, 13 lengths behind the winner. Galopin Des Champs became the second back-to-back winner of the Gold Cup in six years for Mullins and Townend, after Al Boum Photo in 2019 and 2020.

In the wake of bumper attendance at the first post-Covid Cheltenham Festival in 2022, Jockey Club Racecourses, which owns Cheltenham, limited daily attendance to 68,500 in 2023. However, that limit was reached just once, on Gold Cup Day, and overall attendance was down by 39,027 compared with the previous year. Sparse crowds did little to detract from the quality of the on-course action, or continued Irish dominance, which saw the visitors win the Prestbury Cup 18-10, as they had done in 2022, and Willie Mullins and Paul Townend defend their leading trainer and jockey titles.

With the winner in 2021 and 2022, Honeysuckle, trained by Henry de Bromhead, redirected to the David Nicholson Mares’ Hurdle (which she won for the second time), there was a ‘changing of the guard’ in the Champion Hurdle. Having already won the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle and the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton Park, Constitution Hill, trained by Nicky Henderson, was sent off at prohibitive odds of 4/11 to complete the Triple Crown of Hurdling; he did so impressively, coming home nine lengths ahead of State Man, trained by Willie Mullins.

The leading trainer and jockey at the meeting combined to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup for the third time in five years, this time with the seven-year-old Galopin Des Champs, in the yellow and brown quartered colours of Mrs. Audrey Turley. Winner of the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle in 2021, Galopin Des Champs had fallen at the final fence, with the race at his mercy, in the Golden Miller Novices’ Chase on his return to the Cheltenham Festival in 2022.

However, he made no such mistake when winning his next three starts over fences, all at Grade 1 level, and was consequently sent off 7/5 favourite for the Gold Cup, ahead of the King George VI Chase winner, Bravemansgame. Indeed, it was the latter who proved his main danger, but once he took the lead at the final fence Galopin Des Champs never looked in danger of defeat and crossed the line seven lengths ahead, with a further six and half lengths back to the third horse, Conflated.

The 2022 Cheltenham Festival saw the return of spectators for the first time since 2020 and tickets sold out on all four days, with aggregate attendance reaching a record 280,627. Irish dominance continued unabated, all the same, with the visitors winning the Prestbury Cup 18-10, Willie Mullins becoming leading trainer for the ninth time in his career, with a record 10 winners, and Paul Townend becoming leading jockey for the second time, with five winners.

Indeed, Mullins and Townend won two of the ‘feature’ races, the Queen Mother Champion Chase and the Ryanair Chase, courtesy of Energumene and Allaho, respectively, and the other three all went to Irish-trained horses. Honeysuckle, trained by Henry de Bromhead, won the Champion Hurdle for the second year running, Flooring Porter, trained by Gavin Cromwell, also defended his title in the Stayers’ Hurdle and A Plus Tard, also trained by De Bromhead, won the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Domestic trainers with cause to celebrate included Herefordshire handler Venetia Williams, who saddled L’Homme Presse to win the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase, under Charlie Deutsch, and Chambard to win the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup, under Lucy Turner. Subsequent Grand National winner Corach Rambler, trained by Lucinda Russell, aslo warmed up for Aintree with a narrow victory in the Festival Trophy Handicap Chase.

An individual record of 73,875 spectators were in attendance to witness history in the making in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. County Waterford trainer Henry de Bromhead once again saddled the first two horses home but, in reversal of the 2021 result, A Plus Tard, who was sent off favourite, ran on strongly in the closing stages to beat stable companion, and reigning champion, Minella Indo, by 15 lengths. The winner was ridden by stable jockey Rachael Blackmore who, to add to her numerous traiblazing achievements, became the first woman to win the ‘Blue Riband’ event at the Cheltenham Festival. Reflecting on her historic victory, Blackmore said, “You can never dream too big; this is something I never thought would be possible.”