The Cheltenham Festival 2026 is approaching fast and with anticipation building up to a fever pitch for horse racing fans, many will be speculating as to who will emerge victorious over the four days of thunderous racing. In the 2025 Gold Cup, fans witnessed an Irish clean sweep as Inothewayurthinkin led Galopin Des Champs and Gentlemansgame over the line to secure the win for Gavin Cromwell.
Going into this year’s festival, Irish-trained horses are expected to feature heavily towards the sharp end of the field over the 28 races between Tuesday 10th March and Friday 13th March. Willie Mullins has enjoyed remarkable success at Cheltenham over the years. In fact, only one non-Irish trainer has triumphed in the Gold Cup in the last decade when Colin Trizzard won with Native River in 2018.
Main Mullins Challengers
The Gold Cup has largely belonged to Willie Mullins over that period with four wins followed next by Henry De Bromhead with two victories. And Willie Mullins will stand a good chance of adding another this year with nine entries in the Gold Cup. The Mullins offensive is led by Galopin Des Champs who missed out on a historic hat-trick of Gold Cup triumphs in 2025. Paul Townend will be looking to correct that in just under a month’s time.
Another Willie Mullins trained horse will be looking to pip Galopin Des Champs and the rest of the field to the winning post and goes into the event in decent form. Gaelic Warrior, ridden by son of Willie, Patrick Mullins, will be looking to go one better than the recent outing in Leopardstown when Fact to File took the post.
Between now and the event itself, odds for each race on a reputable sportsbook online such as Tonybet will change, such is the dynamic nature of the sport. With the race on 2nd February in Ireland acting as a mini audition for the Gold Cup on 13th March, even Willie Mullins will be keen to see how other stablemates such as I am Maximus, Nick Rockett, and Spindleberry fare in Cheltenham.
Other Notable Picks
Beyond the Mullins stable, there are plenty of other Irish runners of note. In the Champion Hurdle on the opening day, Gordon Elliott’s Brighterdaysahead will be looking to improve on 2025’s outing when the horse finished a disappointing 4th despite being heavily tipped by the bookmakers.
A win at Leopardstown on 1st February will give Elliott and jockey Jack Kennedy a boost ahead of another tussle with Mullins’ Lossiemouth. While Mullins certainly brings the usual army to Cheltenham, experts are tipping Elliott’s stable to give Mullins a run for his money this year.
And what of last year’s Gold Cup winner? Inothewayurthinkin has been in wretched form of late with a fall in Leopardstown compounding a disappointing finish to the 2025, when Cromwell’s charge came in 9th and 5th in Leopardstown and Punchestown, respectively.
However, form often goes out the window, and the prestige of the Gold Cup especially can often bring out the best in horses. With a stacked field, it is difficult to look past the Irish runners. But which trainer will emerge from the Cheltenham Festival with the bragging rights?
