The 2025 Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup: stats, trends and replays
By Racing TV
Last Updated: Sun 5 Jan 2025
All you need to know about the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup on Friday March 14.
When and where can I watch it? 4ppm on Friday March 14, live on Racing TV.
Grade: Grade One. Course: New Course.
What distance? 3m 2½f (22 fences).
Prize-money: £625,000.
Ages: For 5yo+ which are allotted a BHA rating of 130 or more.
Weights and Allowances: 5yo 11st 6lb; 6yo+ 11st 10lb. Allowances - 7lb for mares.
Sponsor: Boodles.
Galopin Des Champs seeks a third Gold Cup
Key Statistics and trends
Grade One glory is a must
The past 24 winners had all won at Grade One level (either over hurdles or fences) before their Cheltenham Gold Cup success.
Be wary of the older contenders
The past 24 winners have been aged nine or under. The last ten-year-old winner was Cool Dawn in 1998.
And the younger ones!
Long Run is the only six-year-old winner in more than 50 years. Mill House won before him in 1963.
Market clues
Eighteen of the past 22 winners were in the top three in the betting. Minella Indo (9-1) in 2021, Al Boum Photo (12-1) in 2019, Sizing John (7-1) in 2017 and Lord Windermere (20-1) in 2014 are the exceptions - the first-named was fourth-best in the market behind Al Boum Photo, A Plus Tard and Champ.
Fresh?
Twelve of the past 21 winners had not run after January 1 of that season. Three of the past six winners (Al Boum Photo, twice, and Native River) lined up having had only one race that campaign. So did Bobs Worth, in 2013, and Long Run in 2011. Conversely, horses who endured busy campaigns have rarely obliged in recent times.
Key trial
Galopin Des Champs was only the sixth Gold Cup winner in the past 24 years that did not run in either the King George VI Chase or the Savills Chase (the Leopardstown version) that season when scoring in 2023. When he followed up last year, he did take the Savills Chase en route. The Brown Advisory Novices' Chase from the previous year is always worth a second look with Bobs Worth and Lord Winderemere doing the double in recent years, and Long Run and Al Boum Photo running in it, too. Minella Indo finished second in that race the previous season. In addition, 18 of the past 24 victors had won last time out.
Don't hang about over hurdles
This century, all the winners, apart from A Plus Tard, have been unleashed over fences straight after their novice hurdle campaigns. A Plus Tard ran five times over hurdles in France - including in two handicaps - before he joined Henry de Bromhead's yard but was sent straight over the larger obstacles by the Irish handler.
Long Run leads Denman and Kauto Star in 2011
Festival Form
Twenty of the past 24 winners had previously finished first or been placed at least once at the Festival.
Speed and stamina
Ten Gold Cup winners in the past 24 years were unproven over the Gold Cup trip and horses with top-class form over shorter distances, especially over hurdles, deserve a second look. For instance, Best Mate, Kicking King, War Of Attrition and Sizing John all made the frame in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle before going on to win jump racing's biggest prize. Also, do not discount horses who ran in the Ryanair Chase 12 months earlier. Imperial Commander (first) and Don Cossack (third) ran in it before scooping Gold over more than five furlongs further. A Plus Tard also finished third in the Ryanair Chase before winning the Gold Cup two years later.
Back-to-back winners
In the history of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, only nine horses have won it more than once, with Galopin Des Champs (2023 and 2024) plus Al Boum Photo (2019 and 2020) being the latest.
Before them, Kauto Star had been the last dual winner (2007 and 2009) and he is the only horse to ever regain the race. Golden Miller won it five times (1932/33/34/35/36) when it was formerly a trial for the Grand National.
The other horses to have won the race more than once are: Best Mate (2002/3/4), L’Escargot (1970/71), Arkle (1964/65/66), Cottage Rake (1948/49/50) and Easter Hero (1929/30).
Irish winner?
Willie Mullins finally trained his first Gold Cup winner via Al Boum Photo in 2019 and promptly won it again in 2020, having previously saddled the runner-up six times. Galopin Des Champs has kept him on a high. Irish-trained horses have won 11 of the 20 Gold Cups since Best Mate’s dominant spell, and nine of the last 11.
The Boodles-sponsored Cheltenham Gold Cup is the blue riband event of the Cheltenham Festival and attracts the sport's finest staying steeplechasers.
With a prize fund of £625,000, the Gold Cup is by far the richest non-handicap chase run in Britain, with only the £1m Randox Health Grand National worth more.
The two outstanding horses of the early Gold Cup era were dual winner Easter Hero (1929-30) and Golden Miller, who secured an unprecedented five victories from 1932. In those days, though, the race was something of a trial for the Grand National.
Since Golden Miller, only the great Arkle (1964-66) and Best Mate (2002-04) have won more than two Gold Cups, a feat even the great Kauto Star could not match.
Jim Culloty, the jockey of Best Mate, became just the fifth person to ride the winner and then go on to train a winner of the race when Lord Windermere caused a 20-1 shock in 2014. Lord Windermere was the longest-priced winner since 25-1 Cool Dawn in 1998.
Recent renewals
2024 – Galopin Des Champs
Galopin Des Champs joined the list of Cheltenham Festival greats when brilliantly defending his Gold Cup crown.
Having answered stamina doubts 12 months ago, the Willie Mullins-trained Galopin Des Champs was ridden much handier this time by Paul Townend, as the last two Brown Advisory Novices' Chase winners, The Real Whacker and L'Homme Presse, set the pace.
Townend had edged his way to join the front-runners jumping four out and although the loose Fastorslow threatened to check his momentum as Charlie Deutsch aboard L'Homme Presse set sail for home three out, there were few dramas for the week's leading rider who looked in complete control jumping to the front two out.
Galopin Des Champs cemented his status as the best chaser in training with a pulsating victory.
The Willie Mullins-trained seven-year-old, who had won the Irish Gold Cup the previous month, went off the well-backed 7/5 favourite under Paul Townend and was gaining redemption for his unfortunate final-fence fall in the Turners Novices' Chase at the meeting last year, when he had victory at his mercy.
The memory of that blip, the only blemish on his chasing record, was erased in memorable fashion, but it was far from straightforward as he had to sweep through from the rear and he put in some scruffy leaps along the way.
Mullins was winning chasing's blue riband for a third time in five years, having previously suffered six seconds in a race that taunted him for so long. Townend has been on board for all three.
"I didn't realise the pressure I was under," the trainer said afterwards. "I'm absolutely delighted for Audrey Turley (owner), Paul was under huge pressure too and gave him a peach of a ride.
"The plan was to drop him in and come through, I said to him 'I think you're on the best horse, the fastest horse, so as long as he doesn't get running with you just tuck him in somewhere and put him asleep' - and he did.
"It just worked out, he gave him a brilliant, cool ride. Everyone was questioning the distance and his stamina, they were going to make it plenty fast so I didn't want him up there in the early exchanges.
"If he has the class, he'll come through, if he hasn't then there's no point. All the thoughts go through your head, have we gone too far back? They had gone such a gallop, something had to give.
"One or two fell and we missed all that, we'd a lot of luck. I think that man on board, when the pressure comes on, he's very good."
The record-breaking jockey chose to ride A Plus Tard in the 2021 Cheltenham Gold Cup when the pair finished runner-up behind stablemate Minella Indo, and Blackmore believed she had unfinished business after picking the wrong horse that year.
The tables were turned in 2022, though, with Blackmore guiding her mount to an incredible 15-length victory over Minella Indo, leading home a one-two for trainer Henry de Bromhead.
Blackmore bided her time aboard Cheveley Park Stud's superstar who was stuck behind a wall of horses turning in before challenging between Protektorat and dual winner Al Boum Photo. The pair gained the lead approaching the final fence and stormed to success up the hill to record a stunning 15-length success.
Blackmore said: "I just can't believe it. I'm so lucky to be getting to ride all these kind of horses.
"You can't do this without the horses and being attached to Henry's yard is just absolutely phenomenal. To give me this horse is unbelievable I don't know what to say.
"I've had so many special days. I wouldn't swap the Grand National for anything, but this is the Gold Cup. I wish I had something better to say right now. I just can't."
2021 - Minella Indo
Ireland claimed a remarkable 21st winner of Cheltenham Festival week and Henry de Bromhead sent out the first and second in the defining week of his career as Minella Indo (11/1) triumphed under Jack Kennedy for owner Barry Maloney.
The eight-year-old was a big ante-0post fancy for the great race but had somewhat blotted his record with two indifferent runs at Leopardstown on his last two starts, but he travelled powerfully into the straight and bounded clear from stablemate A Plus Tard (100/30) with two-time winner Al Boum Photo (9/4F) over four lengths back in third. Native River (12/1) was a whopping 24 lengths further back in fourth.
De Bromhead said: “I think I’m still in the hotel - it’s Monday night and it is the start of the week and nothing has happened as of yet, it's mad!
“I keep saying it’s amazing but it genuinely is. I was looking at him (Al Boum Photo) thinking he is going to stay on. Jack was brilliant on Indo. He is just such a tough horse. To see him pricking his ears after the second last was great, but it is all down to the crew at home and here.
It’s massive and the Gold Cup is what you dream about winning. Any of these races, winners at Cheltenham, I can’t tell you how much they mean, you just dream about it. Like I say, I’m going to wake up it’s Monday evening and that's it."
2020 - Al Boum Photo
Al Boum Photo galloped into National Hunt folklore as he joined the elite band of horses to record back-to-back victories.
Giving Willie Mullins a fantastic four-timer on the day, Al Boum Photo (100-30 favourite) had to dig deep to see off the opposition in a gripping finish.
Al Boum Photo, Santini, Lostintranslation and Real Steel had led the pack heading to two out, where Presenting Percy fell. Paul Townend set sail after the last and the winning post came just in time as Santini closed the gap to a neck at the line.
Lostintranslation was a length and a quarter away in third place, with the always-prominent Monalee fourth and Delta Work fifth, having struggled to get into contention following a mistake at the second fence.
"I went out with a plan to get in a rhythm, but he missed a few fences, luckily he always found his feet," a jubilant Townend said. "It was completely different to last year, but most importantly it was the same result."
Mullins had trained the runner-up no less than six times in the Gold Cup and the champion trainer admitted afterwards he thought he was never going to win it.
He said: "I sort of resigned myself to never winning a Gold Cup. Certain jockeys may never win the feature race of their lives, like the Grand National or the Champion Hurdle. I thought maybe I'm not going to be lucky."
Kemboy unseated his rider at the first fence, but got his revenge on Al Boum Photo when winning the Punchestown Gold Cup two months later.
The pair dominated from the start, jumping superbly and setting a gallop that slowly sucked the other 13 in the race out of their comfort zones.
It looked like Might Bite, the 4-1 favourite, would pick off front-running Native River, but the latter, sent off at 5-1, stretched every sinew under Richard Johnson and kept him at bay.
By the finish, Native River had stretched four and a half lengths clear. Anibale Fly kept on for third, with Total Recall a notable faller four out.
2017 - Sizing John
Stepped out of Douvan’s shadow when going up in trip and, having won the Irish Gold Cup on his first attempt at 3m the previous month, the Jessica Harrington-trained seven-year-old shot to the top of the chasing ranks by leading home an Irish 1-2-3-4-5.
Always travelling best under Robbie Power, he found plenty after the last to conclusively prove his stamina for championship races over staying trips and mark himself down as the best three-mile chaser in training.
However, the rest of his career was blighted by injury and setbacks.
2016 - Don Cossack
Made amends for crashing out at the second-last in the King George (looked a major threat at time) earlier that season by running out a brilliant four-and-a-half length winner of the Gold Cup under Bryan Cooper.
Things might have been different had Cue Card, the King George hero, not come down out at the third-last fence when still seemingly full of running. Connections saw a potential £1 million bonus crash to the floor with him.
Injury prevented Don Cossack from defending his crown and he was not seen on a racecourse again.
2015 – Coneygree
Became the first novice to win the Gold Cup since Captain Christy in 1974 with a superb display of front-running.
The eight-year-old, having just his 11th career start, jumped superbly and dug deep in the closing stages to repel Djakadam and justify connections’ ambitious decision to skip the RSA Chase and head straight for the big one.
He was having only his fourth start over fences. More fragile than most, he never ran in the race again before being retired.
2014 - Lord Windermere
Became the biggest-priced winner this century after springing a 20-1 shock for trainer Jim Culloty, who won the race three times aboard Best Mate.
Official ratings illustrate that Lord Windermere is one of the lowest-rated winners of the race in recent times (6-4 market leader Bobs Worth disappointed) but his record at Prestbury Park was superb with an RSA Chase victory also on his CV.
2013 - Bobs Worth
Justified favouritism with a seven-length success for Nicky Henderson and Barry Geraghty.
In doing so, he became the first horse since the great Flying Bolt in the 1960s to win three different Cheltenham Festival races, having previously landed the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle in 2011 and the RSA Chase in 2012.
2012 – Synchronised
The 2012 renewal had been billed as a clash between the great Kauto Star and the reigning champion Long Run, but the big match did not materialise as Kauto Star was pulled up before the 10th fence.
Tony McCoy took full advantage to win his first and only Gold Cup, galvanising the stamina-laden Synchronised to a power-packed finish that saw him clear of 50-1 chance The Giant Bolster and 7-4 favourite Long Run.
Tragically, Synchronised suffered a fatal injury in the Grand National the following month.
2011 - Long Run
The 2011 Cheltenham Gold Cup was a vintage renewal with the previous four winners all lining up, and the stage was set approaching the fourth last as all the main protagonists were in contention.
It was long Run, the new kid on the block, who upstaged them all by powering up the hill under amateur jockey Sam Waley-Cohen to become the first six-year-old since Mill House in 1963 to win the Gold Cup.
Long Run, who was imperious in the King George that season, had been perceived to be a ‘flat track bully’ before this emphatic seven-length success and the doubters were well and truly silenced.
2010 - Imperial Commander
Imperial Commander had shown earlier in the 2009-10 season that he was capable of mixing it with the big boys when going down by just a nose to Kauto Star in the Betfair Chase but was allowed to go off a 7-1 chance in the Gold Cup after a disappointing performance in the King George.
However, a completely different Imperial Commander turned up at the Festival in March and Paddy Brennan’s mount, who had won the Ryanair Chase 12 months earlier, thumped his rivals to the tune of seven lengths on rain-softened ground.
2009 - Kauto Star
Only a special horse can win a Gold Cup by 13 lengths and Kauto Star was certainly that.
He was out for revenge, having gone down to stablemate Denman the previous season and the result was never in doubt as Ruby Walsh sat motionless on the Clive Smith-owned star before the pair sauntered clear from the third-last fence to win their second Gold Cup.
It was one of the most dominant performances in Gold Cup history, from one of the greatest steeplechasers.
2008 – Denman
The meteoric rise of Denman, who had suffered defeat only once in 14 previous starts (when sent off a hot favourite for the 2006 Royal & Sun Alliance Hurdle) reached a pinnacle in the 2008 Gold Cup when he faced stablemate and reigning champion Kauto Star.
Denman had a huge profile on and off the track, partly in thanks to his larger-than-life co-owner Harry Findlay, whose dreams were realised when ‘The Tank’ posted a monstrous performance, to the extent that he was awarded a BHA mark of 185, putting him on a par with the great Desert Orchid.