Cheltenham 2026 on The Race Lab

Cheltenham 2026 in Numbers: The Year the Formbook Burned

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 17:00:00 +0000

If you left Cheltenham on Friday evening with money in your pocket, you’re in a very small minority.

The 2026 Festival was, by the numbers, the worst for favourites backers in over a decade. We pulled every winner’s starting price from our database going back to 2015, and this year’s average winning SP of 14.50 is comfortably the highest we’ve recorded. For context, 2024 — a year widely considered punter-friendly — averaged just 7.70.

Best Each-Way Bets at Cheltenham Festival 2026

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Best Each-Way Bets at Cheltenham Festival 2026

Cheltenham Festival 2026 runs from Tuesday 10 March to Friday 13 March. With 28 races across four days and fields packed with quality, this is the week when each-way betting comes into its own.

The place percentages are generous, the fields are deep and value lurks in every corner — especially in the big handicaps where 20+ runners guarantee 1/4 odds for the first four or five places with most firms.

Galopin Des Champs Out: The Gold Cup Has No Obvious Winner

Sun, 08 Mar 2026 17:00:00 +0000

Willie Mullins confirmed it on Sunday morning: Galopin Des Champs is out for the season. Worked well on Thursday, wasn’t right on Friday. That’s racing.

But the timing — five days before the Gold Cup — turns what was already a fascinating renewal into something genuinely unusual. We went through 20 years of Gold Cup data in SmartForm, and there’s no modern comparison for a field this open.

The favourite problem

Since 2006, the Gold Cup favourite has won nine times from 20 runnings. That’s a decent 45% strike rate. But look at the winners: Galopin Des Champs (twice, at 7/5 and 10/11), Kauto Star (5/4 and 7/4), A Plus Tard (3/1), Long Run (7/2). Proven, dominant horses at the peak of their powers.

Cheltenham Festival 2026 Day 1 Preview: Champion Day Tips, Picks & Analysis

Sun, 08 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Cheltenham Festival 2026: Day 1 (Champion Day) — Full Race-by-Race Preview

Tuesday, March 10, 2026 | Cheltenham Racecourse

Champion Day. The opening day of the Cheltenham Festival sets the tone for the whole week, and 2026 promises to be one of the most compelling openers in years. Seven races, from the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle through to the National Hunt Chase, feature a cast of horses that have been building to this moment all season. Here’s our full breakdown — race by race, horse by horse.

Haiti Couleurs and the Handicap Route to Gold Cup Glory

Fri, 27 Feb 2026 17:00:00 +0000

Rebecca Curtis hasn’t had a runner in the Cheltenham Gold Cup before. In a couple of weeks, Haiti Couleurs will change that, and he’ll arrive via a route that most Gold Cup contenders wouldn’t touch: handicaps.

We pulled every Gold Cup winner since 2003 from our database and checked which ones had won a handicap chase in the 12 months before their crowning moment. Five had: Denman (Hennessy 2007), Bobs Worth (Hennessy 2012), Minella Indo (a Grade 3 handicap), Al Boum Photo (Savills New Year’s Day Chase), and last year’s winner Inothewayurthinkin, who’d won the Kim Muir at the previous Festival.

Lucinda Russell's Ultima Dynasty: Can King of Answers Make It Four From Five?

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 17:00:00 +0000

Lucinda Russell doesn’t just have a good record in the Ultima Handicap Chase. She owns it.

Three wins from the last four runnings — Corach Rambler in 2022 and 2023, then Myretown last March — puts Russell alongside David Pipe as the race’s most prolific modern trainer. But here’s the difference: Pipe’s four wins came across 14 runners over a decade. Russell has managed three from just seven runners in four years, a 43% strike rate that borders on absurd for a 24-runner handicap chase.

Edwardstone Swerves Cheltenham for Aintree — But History Is Against Him

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 12:00:00 +0000

Alan King confirmed after the Ascot Chase on Saturday that Edwardstone will bypass the Cheltenham Festival entirely. The Ryanair entry stays in the drawer. Instead, the 12-year-old will head to Aintree for the Melling Chase in April, a race King won back-to-back with Voy Por Ustedes in 2008 and 2009.

It’s a sensible move. Edwardstone ran a solid fourth in the Ascot Chase, chasing the pace and not quite getting home over an extended two and a half miles. King was characteristically honest afterwards: “He jumped super and it was a proper horse race. It was nice to see a ten, eleven and twelve year old fighting it out.”

Impaire Et Passe Returns From 291 Days Off to Win Gowran — Where Next?

Sun, 15 Feb 2026 18:00:00 +0000

When a horse wins on its first start in 291 days, you pay attention. When that horse is a former Cheltenham Festival winner with entries in the Ryanair Chase, Gold Cup, and Grand National, you pay very close attention.

Impaire Et Passe returned to action in Saturday’s Red Mills Chase at Gowran Park and got the job done in the style that has defined his career — held up, travelling sweetly, then finding plenty when asked. Held up in rear, he made a mistake at two out but kept on well to lead close home, winning the Grade 2 on heavy ground.

Alexei Joins an Exclusive Kingwell Club — But Is He Good Enough for the Champion Hurdle?

Sun, 15 Feb 2026 12:00:00 +0000

Three Kingwell Hurdle winners have gone on to take the Champion Hurdle this century. Golden Ace did it just last year. Katchit managed it in 2008. Hors La Loi III in 2002. So when Alexei ground out a length-and-a-quarter victory over Rubaud in Saturday’s Grade 2 at Wincanton, it was natural to wonder whether he could be the fourth.

The honest answer? Probably not. But there’s enough in his profile to make things interesting.

The Numbers That Explain Why Jonbon Should Swerve the Champion Chase

Sun, 15 Feb 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Here’s a stat that should settle the Jonbon debate once and for all.

At two miles and below over fences, Jonbon’s record reads 14 wins from 21 completed starts — a 67% strike rate. Excellent, but not flawless. At two miles and four furlongs or beyond? Three runs, three wins. Perfect.

Now consider this: at Cheltenham, across all distances, he’s 0 from 5.

Put those two numbers together and the conclusion is obvious. The Ryanair Chase, run over two miles and four furlongs at the Festival on Thursday March 12, isn’t just a viable alternative to the Champion Chase. It might be his best chance of finally winning at Prestbury Park.

Jonbon's 12th Grade One: Only Kauto Star Stands Above Him Over Fences

Sat, 14 Feb 2026 18:00:00 +0000

Jonbon broke hearts on Valentine’s Day — specifically, Pic D’Orhy’s.

The pair jumped the last together in the Ascot Chase, and for a stride or two Harry Cobden’s drive on the defending champion looked like it might be enough. It wasn’t. Nico de Boinville dug deep on the 4-9 favourite and Jonbon pulled clear to win by a length and a half, clinching a 12th Grade One victory over fences.

Tutti Quanti: Can Nicholls' Rapidly Improving Hurdler Gatecrash the Champion Hurdle?

Sat, 14 Feb 2026 15:00:00 +0000

Paul Nicholls doesn’t do things quietly. After Tutti Quanti demolished a strong field in the William Hill Hurdle at Newbury last Saturday, the 14-time champion trainer dropped a bombshell: the Champion Hurdle is under serious consideration.

“We’re going to really consider the Champion Hurdle if it keeps on raining and the ground is on the slow side,” Nicholls wrote in his Betfair blog this week. “The way he won last Saturday suggests he’s rapidly improving and when they’re improving you never know where their ceiling might be.”