The 2026 Cheltenham Festival: super stats and facts for day four

Andy Stephens on multiple Gold Cup winners, one of the meeting's unluckiest horses plus the record of Flat horses in the Triumph and much more. Click here for Free Cheltenham bets.

Poniros was a shock 100-1 winner last year when making his hurdling bow. Changes to the rules in the interim mean that can never happen again. 

He had run on the Flat eight times beforehand for Ralph Beckett, making no impression in the Cambridgeshire off a mark of 91 on his previous outing. 

Flicking back through the past two decades reveals only four winners – Tiger Roll (2014), Quilixios (2021), Lossiemouth (2023) and Majborough (2024) – had not run on the level (either on the Flat or in a French bumper). They all had different profiles, but busy horses on the Flat should not be overlooked. Katchit ran 17 times on the Flat; Countrywide Flame 16 times; and Pentland Hills 11 times. 

Six winners since 2006 began their careers in France and eight winners during that period have been French-bred. 

No fewer than nine of the past 13 winners had run in the Spring Juvenile Hurdle at Leopardstown in February, with Quilixios and Vauban doing the double in recent years. This season’s renewal was won by Narciso Has, a French-bred trained by Willie Mullins who has not run on the Flat (like Lossiemouth and Majborough). 

Ten of the past 19 winners have been trained by a member of the Mullins family (Willie x 8, Thomas x 1 and Tony x 1), while Dan Skelton, who has had four winners of the race during this time, seems to enjoy lining one up for this contest. 

Can we find a common links with the Mullins winners? 

All bar one have been aged five or six with a rating between 134 and 141. 

The odd one out was eight-year-old Arctic Fire, who took the spoils in 2017 off a mark of 158 after 13 months off. Mullins took last year’s Coral Cup with Jimmy Du Seuil after that horse had been off a year, so ignore such runners at your peril. 

Arctic Fire is one only two winners this century have scored off a rating in the 150s. 

It’s only the sixth running of the Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Chase, so we don’t have many stats or trends to play with. 

But it is worth recognising that 18 of the 33 races run at the Festival exclusively for mares in recent years have been won by French-breds. 

This year’s favourite, Dinoblue, was herself bred in France. She took the spoils last year after looking an unlucky runner-up in this last year and, like the past four winners, is owned by JP McManus. 

Stellar Story became the tenth of the past 12 winners to go off at double-figure odds two years ago. 

The SPs have been 50-1, 33-1 (three times), 18-1 (twice), 16-1, 14-1 (twice) and 11-1. It is safe to say that it has been a bookmaker benefit with At Fisher Cross (2013) being the last favourite to oblige. 

Among the 20 winners of the race, Monkfish and The Nice Guy are the only victors not to have won or been placed in a Graded novice hurdle beforehand, although the former had won his previous two starts and the latter was unbeaten. 

And last year’s winner, Jasmin De Vaux, had finished foyrth in two Grade One races before triumphing.

Golden Miller won the Gold Cup five years in succession (1932-1936) when it was regarded as the main trial for the Grand National. 

Cottage Rake (1948-50), Arkle (1964-66) and Best Mate (2002-04) have been triple winners and Galopin Des Champs will join this elite band if he triumphs for a third time, having been runner-up last year. 

Cottage Rake subsequently lost his form, Arkle was injured in the King George later in the year and was retired, while Best Mate ran on just three more occasions. 

Before Galopin Des Champs, Al Boum Photo, also trained by Willie Mullins, was the last horse to bid for three Gold Cup wins. He finished third, when 9-4 favourite, in his hat-trick attempt. 

Fact To File is the ante-post favourite, having won the Brown Advisory in 2024 and Ryanair Chase in 2025. He was also runner-up in the Champion Bumper in 2023. 

Imperial Commander landed the Gold Cup in 2010 a year after the landing the Ryanair, while Don Cossack was third in the 2015 Ryanair before scooping the Cheltenham Gold Cup a year later. The 2013 Ryanair victor, Cue Card, was travelling strongly in the 2016 Gold Cup when falling three out. 

Envoi Allen, the 2023 Ryanair Chase winner, is also on course to run. The 12-year-old, trained by Henry De Bromhead, will apparently be having his final run and his efforts at the Festival deserve recognition. 

He won the 2019 Champion Bumper plus the Turners Novices’ Hurdle a year later; fell in the 2021 Marsh Chase when 4-9; was third in the 2022 Champion Chase; won the 2023 Ryanair Chase plus been second and third in the past two renewals. So, his Festival form figures read 11F3123. 

Perhaps appropriately, 31 of the past 37 winners began their careers in point-to-points or hunter chases. 

Seven of the past 16 winners had finished in the first five in a previous year’s renewal, so don’t rule out Its On The Line making it fourth time lucky after being runner-up in the past three editions. 

The most unfortunate horse never to have run at the Festival? 

There are plenty of candidates but Get Me Out Of Here is a must for any shortlist. 

He was beaten a head in the 2016 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle before being beaten a nose by Final Demand in the County Hurdle a year later (caught on the line). Twelve month later he finished runner-up in the Coral Cup and then, in 2014, he was beaten a short head in the same race. 

Get me Out Of Here, indeed.

Last, but not least. 

Ten of the past 15 renewals have been plundered by Irish runners, with all bar three of them having their first run in a handicap. 

None of Willie Mullins’ four winners had previously run over hurdles more than three times but a rule change means all runners must now have had a minimum of five runs over obstacles. 

David Pipe has yet to win the race that honours his father, the 15-time champion trainer who enjoyed 34 winners at the Festival. 

Since the first running, in 2009, Pipe has had 23 runners and got no closer than third. Big Eared Fran (third in 2009 at 7-2); Ashkazar (seventh in 2010 at 9-2) and Gevrey Chambertin (pulled up at 9-4) all went off favourite, while he has had four other runners beaten at single-figure odds.