Cheltenham Festival 2025

The 2025 Cheltenham Festival was staged, as usual, between Tuesday, March 11 and Friday, March 14 and featured 28 races, as has become customary in recent years. However, in an effort to improve competition, the race programme underwent several significant changes. Most notably, the Golden Miller Novices’ Chase, previously a Grade 1 contest, became a Grade 2 novices’ handicap, the Cross Country Chase, which had been a conditions race since 2016, reverted to being a handicap and the National Hunt Chase, previously a Grade 2 novices’ chase restricted to amateur riders, became a 0-145 novices’ handicap open to professional jockeys.

The changes to race conditions had precious little effect on the Irish stranglehold on the Prestbury Cup, which they won, for the sixth year running, by a final score of 19-9. Willie Mullins, who saddled 10 winners, was leading trainer for the seventh year in a row and his stable jockey, Paul Townend, who rode four winners, just edged out compatriot Mark Walsh on countback to become leading jockey for the fourth year running.

Mullins and Townend started as they meant to go on, courtesy of odds-on favourite Kopek Des Bordes in the opening Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. Indeed, the pair may also have won the feature race on day one, the Champion Hurdle, but for State Man falling at the final flight when five lengths ahead. With odds-on favourite Constitution Hill an earlier casualty, victory eventually went to 25/1 chance Golden Ace, trained by Jeremy Scott and ridden by Lorcan Williams.

The feature race on day two, the Queen Mother Champion Chase did go the way of Ireland, thanks to Marine Nationale, trained by Barry Connell and ridden by Sean Flanagan. So, too, did both feature races on day four, fittingly dubbed ‘St. Patrick’s Thursday’. Favourite Fact To File, trained by Willie Mullins and ridden by Mark Walsh, made mincemeat of the opposition in the Ryanair Chase, winning, impressively, by nine lengths and Bob Olinger, trained by Henry de Bromhead and ridden by Rachel Blackmore, recorded the third Cheltenham Festival of his career in the Stayers’ Hurdle. Another Irish victory was also expected in the final feature race of the week, the Cheltenham Gold Cup, but defending champion Galopin Des Champs was usurped by Inothewayurthinkin, trained by Gavin Cromwell, in County Meath, and ridden by Mark Walsh.