The Cheltenham Gold Cup is the most prestigious race of the British and Irish jump racing season and the centrepiece of the Cheltenham Festival.
All being well, last year’s winner and red-hot favourite Galopin Des Champs will be back for Willie Mullins in an attempt to win the race for the third time in a row – the last horse to achieve that feat being Best Mate in 2004.
Following both trials day at Cheltenham and the Dublin Racing Festival, the market for the race is really starting to take shape.
Four horses – Embassy Gardens, Gerri Colombe, Il Est Francais, Minella Cocooner – have been withdrawn at the latest acceptors stage. Grey Dawning, trained by Dan Skelton, will be directed at Aintree rather than Cheltenham and as such will not run in the Gold Cup.
When is the Cheltenham Gold Cup 2025?
The Cheltenham Gold Cup is Friday, March 14 at 4pm. It is the most important race of the four-day Cheltenham festival.
List of entries
Odds
6. Galopin Des Champs
Back-to-back winner of the race and back to the top of the market after twice reversing form with Fact To File. First in the Savills Chase at Christmas and then again in the Irish Gold Cup. Now very much still the one to beat.
Trainer
Willie Mullins
Jockey
TBC
Expert rating
OR 177
OR
177
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5. Fact to File
Odds
Won well at last year’s Cheltenham Festival, putting a cherry atop an excellent novice chasing campaign. Back with a bang in the John Durkan, where he defeated Galopin Des Champs, but downed by that same rival over Christmas and again at the Dublin Racing Festival. Serious questions about his ability to stay over the Gold Cup trip.
Trainer
Willie Mullins
Jockey
TBC
Expert rating
OR 166
OR
166
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2. Banbridge
Odds
Won the King George in fine style. Test now is to prove he has the stamina to get up the hill in a race run at Gold Cup tempo. Those extra two furlongs up the hill might just find him out.
Trainer
Joseph O’Brien
Jockey
TBC
Expert rating
OR 168
OR
168
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4. Corbett’s Cross
Odds
Perhaps came unstuck on quick-enough ground in the King George but had no answers for Pic D’Orhy in the Ascot Chase but the Gold Cup trip could be more up his street. Place claims.
Trainer
Emmet Mullins
Jockey
TBC
Expert rating
OR 147
OR
147
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13. Monty’s Star
Odds
Found only Fact To File and Spillane’s Tower too good in Grade 1s last season. Found wanting when push came to shove in the Irish Gold Cup. A place looks the best possible outcome for him now.
Trainer
Henry De Bromhead
Jockey
TBC
Expert rating
OR 159
OR
159
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8. Grangeclare West
Odds
Decent novice chase campaign last season, headlined by a Grade 1 win at Leopardstown. Struggled twice against the big boys this season before finishing second in the Irish Gold Cup. That is a form outlier at present but clearly has ability.
Trainer
Willie Mullins
Jockey
TBC
Expert rating
OR 162
OR
162
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12. L’Homme Presse
Odds
Ran a commendable race in last year’s Gold Cup, finishing fourth behind Galopin Des Champs, and did the same in the King George. Won the Cotswold Chase on trials day at Cheltenham but pulled up in Ascot Chase.
Trainer
Venetia Williams
Jockey
TBC
Expert rating
OR 163
OR
163
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9. Jungle Boogie
Odds
Aged 11, but has incredibly only run five times in his entire career. Fragile beast but ran with some credit in last year’s Gold Cup before winning at Ascot on his return to action this season.
Trainer
Henry De Bromhead
Jockey
TBC
Expert rating
OR 156
OR
156
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7. Gentlemansgame
Odds
Always seems to give his running but still smacks of one who does not have quite enough to win one of the big ones. Third in the Savills was a good effort though but took a step back when finding a couple too good in the Cotswold Chase.
Trainer
Mouse Morris
Jockey
TBC
Expert rating
OR 160
OR
160
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10. Hewick
Odds
His win in the King George was one of the stories of last season but has failed to record a win in six starts since, though his reappearance showed promise. Another who was found wanting in a remorseless Irish Gold Cup.
Trainer
Miss Tara Lee Cogan
Jockey
TBC
Expert rating
OR 161
OR
161
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15. The Real Whacker
Odds
A festival winner, having won the 2023 Brown Advisory. Tends to race prominently and can be a danger if getting into a decent jumping rhythm. Pulled up in last year’s race.
Trainer
Patrick Neville
Jockey
TBC
Expert rating
OR 159
OR
159
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14. Royal Pagaille
Odds
If the Gold Cup were run on soft ground at Haydock then he would be a single-figure price. However, it is not and thus he faces an uphill battle to be competitive in a race in which he has never finished better than fifth.
Trainer
Venetia Williams
Jockey
TBC
Expert rating
OR 164
OR
164
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1. Ahoy Senor
Odds
Capable of brilliance and lunacy, Ahoy Senor is true racing enigma. A two-time Grade 1 but now aged ten he has to prove that he still has his ability in spite of growing years. Pulled up on back-to-back starts.
Trainer
Lucina Russell
Jockey
TBC
Expert rating
OR 168
OR
168
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3. Conflated
Odds
A chiselled veteran in top-class races but now aged 11, it is fair to assume that his best days are firmly behind him.
Trainer
Gordon Elliott
Jockey
TBC
Expert rating
OR 154
OR
154
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Cheltenham Gold Cup course guide
The Cheltenham Gold Cup in run on the New Course at Cheltenham Racecourse. While the Old Course suits quicker horses who like to sit close to the pace, the New Course presents a much stiffer test of stamina with a longer, more testing run-in up the hill.
This does not count out front-runners in a Gold Cup but it does mean horses have more time to utilise stamina late in races.
Last year’s winner – who won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2024?
Last year’s race was won by the Willie Mullins-trained Galopin Des Champs, who became a back-to-back winner of the race.
What is the prize-money for the Cheltenham Gold Cup?
The total prize-fund for the race is £625,000, with £351,687 going to the winner. After that the second will receive £132,500, the third £66,312, the fourth £33,125, the fifth £16,625, the sixth £8312, the seventh £4125 and the eighth £2125.
Ticket prices and how to get them
Club tickets for Gold Cup day will cost £117.90, with Tattersalls tickets available from £84.60. A ticket for the Best Mate enclosure will set you back £67.50. Multi-buy options are available for all ticket types.
Tickets can be purchase from https://www.thejockeyclub.co.uk/cheltenham.
