Date: Friday 14th March
Time: 4:00PM
The Cheltenham Gold Cup is the feature of the Festival, and will be the standout race on the final day in 2025.
This year, Galopin Des Champs will look to join the greats of the sport, as he seeks a third straight win in the race for trainer Willie Mullins. The Gold Cup field will compete over a distance of three miles and two furlongs on the New Course in the Grade One, and the stats and trends to consider when making selections can be found here.
Horses aged between seven and nine have a dominant record in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, with each of the last 12 winners falling within this age bracket.
Meanwhile, there hasn’t been a ten-year-old winner of the Blue Riband race since Cool Dawn in 1998. That could be a potentially damning trend for Venetia Williams-trained L’Homme Presse in 2025.
The Gold Cup is all about the best chasers in training, meaning it is little surprise that nine of the last 12 winners of the race have lined up at Cheltenham with a win on their last start.
A notable prep is the Irish Gold Cup, which has produced five of the last 12 winners of the race. Among those include dual-Gold Cup hero Galopin Des Champs, who warmed up for his 2025 defence with a stunning display at Leopardstown in early February.
The Denman Chase and the New Year’s Day Chase at Tramore have produced two winners since 2013.
Previous experience around Cheltenham is essential when examining the Gold Cup field.
All 12 winners since 2013 have previously run at the home of jumps racing, while eight victors over the same period have winning experience at the track. Festival experience should also be considered, with 20 of the past 24 winners of the Gold Cup having been previous winners or placed horses at the Festival.
Like many races at the Festival, the Irish have a strong recent record in the Gold Cup. Willie Mullins secured his first win in the race with Al Boum Photo in 2019, and has since won the Blue Riband on a further three occasions.
Since Best Mate’s dominant sequence in the race, Irish trainers have won eleven of the last 20 editions of the race, which includes victories in nine of the previous eleven.
Interestingly, ten of the last 24 winners of the Gold Cup were unproven over the trip. Horses that have top-class form over shorter distances are well worth a second look, with legendary horses such as Sizing John, Best Mate, and War of Attrition placing in Grade One company over shorter trips before winning the Gold Cup.
Previous Ryanair Chase runners should also be considered, with Imperial Commander and Don Cassack both placing in the Grade One 12 months before winning the Gold Cup.
It’s almost impossible to take on Galopin Des Champs based on the form in the book, but at the prices, the Mullins star is too short.
Therefore, a chance could be taken on Joseph O’Brien’s Banbridge. Connections have already stated that the Gold Cup is the target, meaning that he will at least be in the final third unlike others such as Fact To File and Corbetts Cross who could end up in the Ryanair.
Banbridge is a very ground-dependent runner, but if getting his conditions, there are few better. That was highlighted in the King George on Boxing Day, as he stayed on excellently to beat Il Est Francais on his first effort over three miles. He ran no race in the Ryanair last year on tacky ground, but his form on good and good to soft will at least give him each-way claims in a Gold Cup.
