Ireland has taken a firm grip on the Cheltenham Festival in recent years. Britain rarely gets a sniff of the top prizes at Prestbury Park anymore, and the Prestbury Cup is no longer a contest as the visitors run away with it every year. To make matters worse, the Irish already dominate the ante-post horse racing odds for the 2025 Festival.
Ireland secured the Prestbury Cup for the fifth time in a row back in March with a convincing 18-9 victory over the Brits. So, as the new National Hunt racing season gets underway and all reads begin to lead to Cheltenham, let’s rank some of the visitor’s best victories from earlier this year.
1. Galopin Des Champs – Gold Cup
The Gold Cup is the crown jewel in the National Hunt racing calendar, and Galopin Des Champs has been the king staying chaser for the last couple of years.
After winning the showpiece for the first time in 2023, the Willie Mullins-trained horse became a rare dual winner of the Gold Cup with a convincing victory over Irish rival Gerri Colombe.
Galopin Des Champs is the ante-post favourite to complete the hat-trick in the 2025 renewal and could join the shortlist of three-time winners this year.
2 . Ballyburn – Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle
The Baring Bingham is one of the top races at the Festival for novice hurdlers, with a roll of honour that includes Istabraq and Faugheen, and Ballyburn added his name to the list of winners in March.
The six-year-old put on one of the best performances of the entire 2024 Cheltenham Festival, with an incredible turn of foot seeing him streak clear of the field for an emphatic 13-length victory.
Ballyburn is set to go chasing this season, and he’s the favourite for the Arkle. A solid campaign as a novice chaser could prove that he has all the making to be a Gold Cup horse.
3. Captain Guinness – Queen Mother Champion Chase
After a lot of anticipation in the build-up, it’s fair to say that this year’s renewal of the Queen Mother Champion Chase did not go to plan.
Jonbon, one of the pre-race favourites, was hit with Nicky Henderson’s yard virus, and his old rival El Fabiola was pulled up by Paul Townend, having made numerous mistakes over the first five fences.
That blew the Champion Chase wide open, and Captain Guinness prevailed as Rachael Blackmore pushed the Henry de Bromhead-trained horse into the lead on the turn and just held on for the win.
4. Teahupoo – Stayers’ Hurdle
There were no surprises in the Stayers’ Hurdle, as short-priced favourite Teahupoo streaked home from dual winner Flooring Porter to win the race in successive years for Gordon Elliott.
It wasn’t the perfect run from the seven-year-old, who wasn’t fluent at the seventh obstacle and made a mistake two out, but he kept on well to deny Gavin Cromwell’s mount a hat-trick in the race.
It was a successful redemption mission for Teahupoo following the controversy in the run in 12 months earlier, and he’s well-backed to defend his title going into this season.
5 . State Man – Champion Hurdle
While State Man’s victory in the Champion Hurdle wasn’t as convincing as many would have liked in the absence of Constitution Hill, the seven-year-old still did enough to grind out the victory.
State Man was going best of the field on the turn for home, but Irish Point and Blackmore wouldn’t give up easily—meaning Townend had to drive his mount out for victory by just more than a length.
The Mullins-trained horse will need to be a lot better in March if he wants to give Constitution Hill a good run for his money.
