Haiti Couleurs on The Race Lab

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.

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.

Grand National 2026 Entries: Five Contenders the Data Says You Should Watch

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 18:00:00 +0000

The initial entry list for the 2026 Grand National dropped this week — 78 names jostling for 34 spots on April 11. Plenty of the usual suspects, a few outsiders with no chance, and a handful of genuinely fascinating stories buried in the form book.

Here are five entries the data says deserve your attention.

Panic Attack — The Mare Making History

Only 13 mares have ever won the Grand National. The last was Nickel Coin in 1951. Dan Skelton’s Panic Attack might be the best chance to end that 75-year drought.